National Survey to Evaluate the Approach to ACL Injuries among Brazilian Sports Surgeons

To describe the profile of Brazilian knee surgeons and their preferences in the diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, and to compare the findings with data from the current literature.

We conducted an electronic survey among surgeons who were members of the Brazilian Society of Arthroscopy and Sports Traumatology (Sociedade Brasileira de Artroscopia e Traumatologia Esportiva, SBRATE, in Portuguese). The study included 746 orthopedic surgeons with registered email addresses. We sent a message with an invitation to participate, the research objectives, and a link to access the questionnaire, which contained 36 questions about the professional profile of the surgeons and their preferences in the diagnosis, surgical technique, and rehabilitation of ACL injuries.

The number of participants was 170 (22.7% of the 746 orthopedic surgeons invited). All participants performed ACL reconstruction, with 72% having more than 10 years of experience and 43.5% performing more than 50 reconstructions per year. Sports trauma was the most common injury mechanism (95%). Instability (95.3%) and return to sport (82.2%) were the main criteria for surgical indication. Most participants (53.5%) indicated surgery 1 to 4 weeks after injury. Flexor grafting (88.2%) and the in-out transportal technique (39.2%) were the most frequent options. The predominant postoperative approaches were immediate weight-bearing (51.8%) and early full range of motion (61.3%).

The study outlined the profile and practices of SBRATE knee surgeons in ACL reconstruction. Our findings demonstrate that Brazilian practices follow global trends described in the recent literature.