Compliance in post-operative rehabilitation is a key factor for return to sport after revision anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

PURPOSE: To assess the rate of return to sport (RTS) following revision Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction (ACLR) in a rehabilitation-based cohort of patients. A secondary goal of the study was to evaluate the association between compliance in post-operative rehabilitation and RTS rate.

METHODS: The study cohort included 79 sport-active patients (62 males, 17 females, 30.0 ± 10.2 years old) who underwent revision ACLR surgery and followed the same functional-oriented rehabilitation protocol. Patients were evaluated using a RTS survey: return to any kind of sport participation, return to the same pre-injury sport, return to the same sport at the same pre-injury level. With regards to compliance in post-operative rehabilitation, patients were then grouped in (1) Fully Compliant (FC), (2) Moderately Compliant (MC), (3) Scarcely Compliant (SC), and (4) Non-Compliant (NC).

RESULTS: At an average follow-up of 29 ± 12 months, 86% of the patients returned to some kind of sport activity, 62% returned to the same pre-injury sport activity and 59% returned to the same pre-injury level of sport activity. While no surgical aspects were correlated with RTS, higher BMI was found to have a negative influence (p = 0.033). Regardless of the type of sport, compliance significantly affected RTS at the same pre-injury level (p = 0.006): 86% in FC, 67% in MC, 50% in SC, and 45% in NC. For each compliance goal achieved, the probability of RTS increased by 68% (OR = 1.68; p = 0.027).

CONCLUSION: RTS at the same pre-injury level after revision ACLR is challenging. A higher compliance in rehabilitation significantly increases the chances of RTS.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.