Impact of age on clinical outcomes in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is a common procedure for symptomatic ACL injuries. Age is often factored into clinical decision making and can influence the choice of conservative management over surgical intervention. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of chronological age on the clinical outcome following ACLR.

Six validated patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) were used to collect pre-operative and post-operative scores from patients with ACL rupture undergoing ACLR. Data were stratified pertaining to the patient's age at the time of surgery to compare the Younger Group (under 40 years) with the Older Group (over 40 years).

A total of 45 patients were included in this study. Pre-operatively the Younger Group (n = 32) had significantly better Lysholm (p = 0.016), Tegner (p = 0.001), Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) Activities of Daily Living (ADL) sub-score (p = 0.003) and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score (p = 0.014) as compared to the Older Group (n = 13). Post-operatively, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) between the two groups as all the PROM scores were comparable except for the Tegner score (p = 0.02), where younger patients had higher activity levels. Significant inverse correlations were only found between age and Tegner score (rho = - 0.58, p < 0.001) and KOOS Sport and Recreation sub-score (rho = - 0.33, p = 0.038).

ACLR is a clinically successful treatment strategy for patients of all ages. Thus, age should not be used in isolation to determine patient suitability.