ArticleOrthopaedic journal of sports medicine2023
Return to Play and Pattern of Injury After ACL Rupture in a Consecutive Series of Elite UEFA Soccer Players.
Article in Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- The majority of elite and professional athletes return to the preinjury level of activity after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2026Pooled it
- Slower but Not Safer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Return to Play and Graft Re-Rupture After ACL Reconstruction in Professional Soccer Players.Sports medicine - open · 2025Pooled it
- Return to Play and Performance After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in Soccer Players: A Systematic Review of Recent Evidence.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Pooled it
- Playing the field: A retrospective analysis of anterior cruciate ligament injuries and playing position in elite female football (soccer) players.JSAMS plus · 2026Article
- No clear association between time to return-to-play and first additional injury in European professional football players after ACL injury: A media-based study.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2026Article
- Intra- and Inter-Rater Reliability of a Systematic Video Analysis of ACL Injuries in Elite Men's Football.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Clinical outcomes of quadriceps, hamstring, and bone-patellar tendon-bone autografts for ACL reconstruction: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Knee surgery & related research · 2026Review
- Return to sport after ACL reconstruction, meniscus and cartilage surgeries in professional soccer players: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Knee surgery & related research · 2026Review
- Match running performance upon return to play in professional male LaLiga football players following anterior cruciate ligament rupture.Biology of sport · 2026Article
- Return to Sport and Risk of Second Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injury in Elite Male Footballers: 10-Year Experience From a Single Center.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2025Article
- Incidence and Treatment Strategy of Lateral Meniscus Posterior Root Tears and Ramp Lesions Identified During Isolated ACL Reconstructions: Report From a Nationwide Knee Ligament Register.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2025Article
- Sport-specific differences in ACL injury, treatment and return to sports: Football.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2025Review
- Patients Who Underwent Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction With an All Soft-Tissue Quadriceps Tendon Graft Had a Greater Return-to-Play Rate Than Patients Who Received a Quadriceps Tendon Bone Graft.Arthroscopy, sports medicine, and rehabilitation · 2025Review
- Femur tibial rotation in patients undergoing bilateral versus unilateral ACL reconstruction: A propensity score matched analysis.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2025Article
- Early Open Kinetic Chain Hamstring Exercise After ACL Reconstruction: A Retrospective Safety and Efficacy Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Technical Variations in Lateral Extra-Articular Tenodesis for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Systematic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Establishing 'normal' career longevity in professional footballers allows comparison to that of players with injuries and surgery.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2025Article
- 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 · 2025Article
- Anterior Cruciate Ligament Return to Play: "A Framework for Decision Making".Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Clinical Results of Isolated MCL Grade III Injury in Acute and Chronic Setting: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Indian journal of orthopaedics · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Anterior cruciate ligament rupture represents a career-threatening injury for professional soccer players. Purpose: To analyze the pattern of injury, return to play (RTP), and performance of a consecutive series of elite professional soccer players after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: We evaluated the medical records of 40 consecutive elite soccer players who underwent ACLR by a single surgeon between September 2018 and May 2022. Patient age, height, weight, body mass index, position, injury history, affected side, RTP time, minutes played per season (MPS), and MPS as a percentage of playable minutes before and after ACLR were retrieved from medical records and from publicly available media-based platforms. Results: Included were 27 male patients (mean ± SD age at surgery, 23.2 ± 4.3 years; range, 18-34 years). The injury occurred during matches in 24 players (88.9%), with a noncontact mechanism in 22 (91.7%). Meniscal pathology was found in 21 patients (77.8%). Lateral meniscectomy and meniscal repair were performed in 2 (7.4%) and 14 (51.9%) patients, respectively, and medial meniscectomy and meniscal repair were performed in 3 (11.1%) and 13 (48.1%) patients, respectively. A total of 17 players (63.0%) underwent ACLR with bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft and 10 (37.0%) with soft tissue quadriceps tendon. Lateral extra-articular tenodesis was added in 5 patients (18.5%). The overall RTP rate was 92.6% (25 of 27). Two athletes moved to a lower league after surgery. The mean MPS% during the last preinjury season was 56.69% ± 21.71%; this decreased significantly to 29.18% ± 20.6% ( Conclusion: ACLR in elite UEFA soccer players was associated with a 92.6% rate of RTP and 7.4% rate of reinjury within 6 months after primary surgery. Moreover, 7.4% of soccer players moved to a lower league during the first season after surgery. Age, graft selection, concomitant treatments, and lateral extra-articular tenodesis were not significantly associated with prolonged RTP.
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