SynthesisKnee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA2026
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.
Synthesis in Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled 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 Competition and Career Sustainability After Primary ACL Reconstruction in Football: A Nationwide Cohort Study of Long-Term Participation.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Article
- 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
- Femoral offset aimer use is not associated with improved anatomic accuracy in hamstring ACL reconstruction: A 3D-CT study.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2026Article
- Lateral extra-articular procedures in primary anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction reduce graft failure rates in elite and competitive athletes: A systematic review.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2026Review
- Pass Rates of Return to Sport Test Batteries Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Response to fatigue protocol on running ground reaction forces in individuals with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and pronated feet: a cross-sectional observational study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeTo compare return to play (RTP), time to RTP, level of RTP, and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) graft failure among elite and professional athletes from different sports after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR).
methodsThe PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library databases were searched to identify potentially relevant research articles that analysed RTP, time to RTP, level of RTP, and graft failure rate in elite and professional athletes after ACLR. An elite or professional athlete was defined as one who participates in national- or international-level competitions in professional or amateur sports-including academy players aged 15 years or over.
resultsA total of 49 studies met the inclusion criteria. Eleven different sports and 4463 knees were included in the final analysis. The pooled data revealed an RTP rate of 85.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] 82.8-88.5]. A lower RTP was observed in Australian football (67.8% [95% CI 54.1-80.1]; p < 0.001) and football (73.0% [95% CI 65.9-79.5]; p < 0.001) than in soccer (92.8% [95% CI 89.3-95.7]). Almost 90% of the athletes returned to their preinjury level. The meta-analysis revealed no difference (p > 0.05) in the level of RTP rate among the different studies, ranging from 79.0% (soccer) to 97.3% (basketball). The pooled mean time to RTP was 292 days (95% CI 268-316 days). The pooled ACL graft failure rate was estimated to be 7.0% for athletes.
conclusionsFollowing ACLR, more than 85% of elite and professional athletes returned to play and almost 90% returned to their preinjury level, with a graft failure rate of 7.0% and a mean return to play at 292 days. Athletes and their treating physicians can utilise these findings to set reasonable expectations for their return to competition after ACLR. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV systematic review and meta-analysis.
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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.