ArticleKnee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA2026
The impact of on-field rehabilitation on return to play and ACL re-injury risk after ACL reconstruction in football (soccer) players: A study on 401 consecutive cases.
Article 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. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeExamine the association between preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative variables, including on-field rehabilitation (OFR) participation and return to play (RTP) rates and re-injury risk in a large cohort of 11-a-side football (soccer) players after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR).
methodsData from 401 male football players who underwent primary ACLR were retrospectively analysed. All players completed a standardised rehabilitation protocol, involving a period of OFR. Participants were stratified by competitive level (professionals and amateurs), and between-group differences in RTP and re-injury outcomes were documented. The association between preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative variables for each outcome was assessed using logistic regressions, controlling for competitive level.
resultsMedian follow-up time was 40.6 months post-ACLR. Eighty-four percent of players RTP at their pre-injury competitive level, with professionals (88%) and amateurs (83%) returning in 5.9 ± 2.1 and 6.9 ± 3.2 months, respectively. Greater OFR volume (odds ratio [OR], 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00-1.12; p = 0.034) and weekly frequency (OR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.00-1.07; p = 0.014) were associated with increased RTP likelihood. High OFR compliance was associated with higher odds of RTP (OR = 2.62, p = 0.003), in which 91% of compliant players RTP at their pre-injury competitive level. Forty-two players (10%) sustained a second ACL injury (20 ipsilateral and 22 contralateral). OFR variables were not significantly associated with overall second ACL re-injury risk. In an exploratory subgroup analysis of young (<20 years old) players, OFR compliance was associated with lower odds of ipsilateral re-injury (OR = 0.23, p = 0.041).
conclusionACLR football players in our cohort had high RTP (88%) and low ACL re-injury risk (10%). Greater exposure to OFR, particularly higher volume and weekly frequency, was associated with an increased likelihood of RTP. No association was observed between OFR compliance and overall second ACL injury risk, although in young players, greater OFR compliance was associated with a reduction in ipsilateral ACL re-injury. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.