Rehabilitation and Return to Play Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

This commentary will be a discussion of the rehabilitation and return to play for athletes following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. There is a real concern that patients who have underwent an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction are potentially not being restored to their previous levels of athletic ability, or being prematurely cleared by their physician to resume participation in their chosen sport. This article examines the current evidence in the literature and proposes an effective template by combining the concepts of soft tissue wound healing and sound strength and conditioning principles. It is imperative that the clinician have a full understanding of each phase of rehabilitation to appropriately address the various physical deficiencies in a safe and effective manner. Regarding return-to-play criteria, a nontraditional perspective is offered to consider comparing the athlete to the standards of sport vs the traditional comparison of the athlete's contralateral side. This may help in better decision-making when it is time to recommend an athlete to resume the same activity in which the original injury was sustained.