Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33987689›Full record

ArticleKnee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA2022

Increased occurrence of ACL injuries for football players in teams changing coach and for players going to a higher division.

Alexander Sandon, Werner Krutsch, Volker Alt, Magnus Forssblad

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Sport-specific differences in ACL injury, treatment and return to sports: Football.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Return to competition after ACL reconstruction: Factors influencing rates and timing in Swedish football players.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2025
    Article
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  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Alexander SandonDepartment of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Stockholm Sports Trauma Research Center, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Alexander.sandon@ki.se.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0124-5782
Werner KrutschDepartment of Trauma Surgery, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Volker AltDepartment of Trauma Surgery, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Magnus ForssbladDepartment of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Stockholm Sports Trauma Research Center, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Karolinska Institutet · SEUniversity Hospital Regensburg · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo identify football-specific factors associated with ACL injuries that can be targeted for sport-specific injury prevention.

methodsA study-specific questionnaire was developed to study the characteristics of ACL injuries in football including intrinsic, extrinsic, and injury specific factors. The questionnaire was available at the Swedish national knee ligament registry's website for the football players to voluntarily fill out. Data are presented on group level for all football players in total and for females and males separate to examine gender-specific differences. The results are based on answers collected over a 3-year period from 2875 football players, 1762 (61%) males and 1113 (39%) females.

resultsACL were more frequently sustained during games 66% than during practices 25%. The injury mechanism was non-contact in 59% and contact in 41%. For the contact injuries during games, no action was taken by the referee in 63% of the situation and a red card was shown in 0.5%. The risk of ACL injury was highest early in the football game with 47% sustained during the first 30 min and 24% in the first 15 min. Players changing to a higher level of play 15% had a higher rate of ACL injuries than players changing to a lower level 8%. This difference was especially seen in female football players with 20% of ACL injuries being sustained by players going to a higher division compared to 7% for those going to a lower division. 15% of the male and 21% of the female ACL injuries occurred in teams with a coach change during the season. Knee control exercises to warm up was used by 31% of the female players and 16% of the males. 40% of the players reported that they did not plan on returning to football.

conclusionNeuromuscular training programs have proven to reduce ACL injuries, but greater adherence to these remains a challenge as only 1 in 5 of the ACL-injured football players report using them. Teams changing coach and players going to a higher division appear to have an increased risk of ACL injury warranting attention and further investigations. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

Indexed as

Anterior Cruciate Ligament InjuriesAthletic InjuriesKnee InjuriesSoccerWarm-Up ExerciseFemaleHumansMaleACLACL injuryFootballReturn to sportsSoccer

Identifiers

PMID33987689
PMCPMC9007801
OpenAlexW3163024324

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.