Acute anterior cruciate ligament injuries in multisport elite players: Demography, association, and pattern in different sports

BackgroundAnterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear rates are known to vary from sport to sport. To the best of our knowledge, the relationship of ACL injury with different sports is not reported earlier. The objective of the present study is to investigate the association of ACL injury with different sports and to document various associated ligamentous, meniscal, and chondral lesions of the knee.Materials and methodsDescriptive epidemiological study was carried out in a tertiary care center over a 10-year period. Data were collected of the 638 ACL injured elite sportspersons operated by us. Percentage of ACL injuries and other associated injuries of the knee in different games was calculated. Chi-square test was applied to analyze the relationship between injuries of the specific structures of knee and sports played. p values less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant with a confidence interval of 95%.ResultsKabaddi and football constituted the highest percentage (61%) of ACL injuries. Associated injuries were 10 posterior cruciate ligament tears, 11 posterolateral corner injuries, three medial collateral ligament tears, 390 meniscal tears (206 medial, 184 lateral), 201 femoral/tibial condylar lesions (128 medial, 40 lateral femoral condyle and 17 medial, 16 lateral tibial condyle), and two common peroneal nerve injuries. Lateral meniscal tears in kabaddi and medial femoral condylar lesions in badminton were significantly higher.ConclusionsKabaddi resulted in higher number of ACL injuries and other associated injuries to the knee. Further investigation is required to ascertain high-risk factors for such injuries.