Reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament

Background. The purpose of the anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction is achieving as efficient stabilization of the knee joint as possible in order to enable patients to return to the same activities they used to be engaged in prior to their injury. In case of athletes with the ACL injury, the result of the reconstruction and rehabilitation is principally more important as it is connected with the expectation of the quickest recovery of full fitness possible, and next to practicing sport. Material and methods. The objective of this study is the evaluation (42 person = 18 women and 24 men) of the impact of the anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction onto different sports, at the average age of 25 (20 to 35 years of age). All patients suffered the anterior cruciate ligament injury and underwent its surgical reconstruction. For the benefit of the study, a survey was applied aiming at the evaluation of the impact of the anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction on the return to practicing sports and a subjective evaluation of the general fitness of athletes 1 year after the reconstruction. The survey consisted of open questions, as well as the Tampa scale of kinesiophobia (TSK) and Marx’s scale (Marx activity rating scale). Results. The results showed that among 42 athletes after the anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, only 52% returned to practising the same sport they used to do prior to the injury. The remaining 48%, for various reasons, decided to change the types of their physical activities for less straining or gave up practicing sports completely. 22 persons returned to the same sport after 8.2 months after the ACL reconstruction on the average, usually at a lower level than prior to the injury. The most common reason for giving up sports was a fear of the injury reoccurrence. This decision was also influenced by such factors as a fear of pain, disability, fitness deficiency or personal matters. Conclusions. The reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament allows to recover full physical fitness, and next to practicing sports. Nevertheless, after the rehabilitation programme has been completed and the full functional stability of the knee joint is achieved, not all athletes return to sports. A full return to practicing sports takes place after ca. 6-12 months after the reconstruction, depending also on a particular sport. Persons who came back to practicing sports had lesser fears of commencing physical activities than persons who gave up sports. The mental trauma connected with the contusion influences the decision on coming back to sports. Also, the multitude of injuries has a negative impact upon the return to sports.