Objectives:
Sports injuries are one of the most common orthopedic injuries particularly in young and active populations. Football is the most popular sport among Saudis, and thus, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are common in clinics and emergency rooms in Saudi Arabia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of patients six months after ACL reconstruction in both hospitals and gym-based rehabilitation services and its impaction on the patients to return to sports and preinjury fitness levels.
Methods:
This is a retrospective case series of patients who underwent arthroscopically assisted ACL reconstruction using a hamstring autograft at our center. Data were gathered from January 2020 to December 2020. Patients were given a questionnaire about their visits to the orthopedic clinic in the 6th month after surgery.
Results:
Sixty patients with ACL reconstructions were studied. Noncontact sports were the leading cause of injuries (53.3%). The mean Lysholm score was 84.9 (SD 3.45) out of 100 after six months of follow-up, and the mean Tegner score was 4.77 (SD 1.06) out of 10 points. The Lysholm score was excellent (>90) among 5% (n= 3), good (84-90) among 60% (n= 36), and fair (65-83) among 35% (n= 21). As a result, we observed that the duration of postoperative rehabilitation has a significant relationship with the fitness level (X2= 18.711; p=0.001).
Conclusion:
The Lysholm knee scoring scale and the Tegner activity scale showed that arthroscopically assisted ACL reconstruction using hamstring autograft has a successful and functional outcome after which the patient returns to sports or regains the preinjury level of fitness level depends on the rehabilitation.The period and types of preoperative and postoperative rehabilitation have a direct impact on the return to fitness levels and normal daily life activities.