Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in the military patient

This study prospectively evaluates the likelihood of a return of military personnel to full duty after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. We report the results of 120 active duty military patients who underwent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with autogenous patella tendon. Mean fo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMilitary medicine Vol. 163; no. 1; p. 17
Main Authors Cullison, T R, O'Brien, T J, Getka, K, Jonson, S
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.01.1998
Subjects
Adult
Anterior Cruciate Ligament - surgery
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Male
Military Personnel
Prospective Studies
Reconstructive Surgical Procedures
Time Factors
United States
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Summary:This study prospectively evaluates the likelihood of a return of military personnel to full duty after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. We report the results of 120 active duty military patients who underwent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with autogenous patella tendon. Mean follow-up was 29 months (range, 24-65 months). Time from injury to reconstruction was > 6 months in 90% of patients. Final Lysholm scores averaged 89 (range, 29-100). We found that 77% of patients returned to full duty, whereas 23% of patients were medically discharged from military service. The patient age, military rank, time from injury to surgery, and KT-1000 measurements did not correlate with either the Lysholm score or return to duty (p = 0.05). Severe chondromalacia (Outerbridge III or IV) did correlate with poor result (p = 0.043), and Lysholm score did correlate with return to duty (p = 0.003). Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction offers a higher likelihood of return to full military duty than nonoperative treatment in a similar study.
ISSN:0026-4075
DOI:10.1093/milmed/163.1.17