Psychological readiness to return to sports after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in amateur sport

D Beneito Pastor; M Morales-Santias; D Bustamante Suarez de Puga; J Más Martínez; S Garcia Miralles; J Sanz-Reig

doi:10.1016/j.recot.2021.07.006

Psychological readiness to return to sports after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in amateur sport

Rev Esp Cir Ortop Traumatol. 2022 Mar-Apr;66(2):113-120. doi: 10.1016/j.recot.2021.07.006. Epub 2021 Nov 19.

[Article in English, Spanish]

Authors

D Beneito Pastor¹, M Morales-Santias¹, D Bustamante Suarez de Puga¹, J Más Martínez¹, S Garcia Miralles¹, J Sanz-Reig²

Affiliations

¹ Traumatología Vistahermosa, HLA Clínica Vistahermosa, Alicante, España.
² Traumatología Vistahermosa, HLA Clínica Vistahermosa, Alicante, España. Electronic address: jsanz@traumavist.com.

PMID: 35404788
DOI: 10.1016/j.recot.2021.07.006

Abstract

Introduction: Return to sports (RTS) is maybe the main expectation for the patient after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). The aim of this study was to analyze the psychological readiness to RTS in a cohort of amateur sports after ACLR.

Material and methods: Retrospective study of a prospective database of patients treated with ACLR performed between January and December 2017. Psychological readiness to RTS after ACLR was evaluated with the short version of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament Return to Sport After Injury (ACL-RSI) scale.

Results: A total of 43 patients met the inclusion criteria. The mean age of the patients was 24.7 years. The mean follow-up was 32.5 months. All patients practiced any type of sports at final follow-up. The mean ACL-RSI score was 71.5. Fear of reinjury was mentioned by 14 patients (32.5%). Twenty-four patients (55.8%) pointed out that they did not practice sport at the pre-injury level. The mean ACL-RSI score was statistically significant lower in this group of patients (59.7 vs 87.3; P<.001).

Conclusions: Fear of reinjury keeps after ACLR. Patients that they did not practice sport at the pre-injury level show lower scores in ACL-RSI for RTS.

Keywords: Anterior cruciate ligament; Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction; Factores psicológicos; Ligamento cruzado anterior; Psychological factors; Reconstrucción ligamento cruzado anterior; Reincorporación deportiva; Return to sports.