TABLE 1.
Player and Injury Characteristics of Elite Australian Rules Football Players With ACL Injuries During 1990-2000: Return to Play at the Elite Levela
| All Players (Range) [% of Overall Category] | Did Not Return to Play (Range) [% of Each Subcategory] | Returned to Play (Range) [% of Each Subcategory] | Return to Play After ACL Injury Compared With Reference Group, OR [95% CI] (P Value)b | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of players | 115 | 30 [26] | 85 [74] | |
| Mean age, y | 24 (17-35) | 25 (20-35) | 23 (17-32) | |
| 17-20c | 17 [15] | 1 [6] | 16 [94] | — |
| 21-24 | 58 [50] | 17 [29] | 41 [71] | 0.16 [0.02-1.19] (.073) |
| 25-29 | 34 [30] | 8 [24] | 26 [76] | 0.24 [0.03-2.16] (.205) |
| 30+ | 6 [5] | 4 [67] | 2 [33] | 0.01 [0.00-0.12] (<.0002) |
| Mean height, cm | 185 (163-203) | 183 (173-193) | 185 (163-203) | |
| <179c | 34 [30] | 10 [29] | 24 [71] | — |
| 180-189 | 45 [39] | 13 [29] | 32 [71] | 0.46 [0.09-2.15] (.323) |
| >190 | 36 [31] | 7 [19] | 29 [81] | 0.29 [0.05-1.63] (.161) |
| Mean weight, kg | 88 (70-109) | 84 (70-102) | 89 (73-109) | |
| 70-79c | 26 [23] | 10 [38] | 16 [62] | — |
| 80-89 | 43 [37] | 13 [30] | 30 [70] | 3.22 [0.68-15.12] (.139) |
| 90-99 | 34 [30] | 6 [18] | 28 [82] | 14.93 [2.13-104.76] (.007) |
| 100+ | 12 [10] | 1 [8] | 11 [92] | 17.77 [0.60-522.038] (.095) |
| Side of injuryd | ||||
| Nondominantc | 61 [53] | 7 [11] | 54 [89] | — |
| Dominant | 54 [47] | 23 [43] | 31 [57] | 0.10 [0.03-0.34] (.0002) |
| Surgical techniqued | ||||
| HSc | 39 [34] | 9 [23] | 30 [77] | — |
| BPTB | 72 [63] | 20 [28] | 52 [72] | 0.73 [0.23-2.37] (.601) |
| ITB | 3 [3] | 1 [33] | 2 [67] | 0.35 [0.01-8.27] (.515) |
aStatistics in bold are significant. ACL, anterior cruciate ligament; BPTB, bone–patellar tendon–bone autograft; HS, hamstring tendon autograft; ITB, iliotibial band autograft; OR, odds ratio.
bAdjusted OR—for covariates, binomial logit generalized estimating equations.
cReference group.
dThe type of ACL reconstruction technique was not documented for 1 player.