BackgroundFemale athletes participating in high-risk sports suffer anterior cruciate ligament injury at a 4- to 6-fold greater rate than do male athletes.HypothesisPrescreened female athletes with subsequent anterior cruciate ligament injury will demonstrate decreased neuromuscular control and increased valgus joint loading, predicting anterior cruciate ligament injury risk.Study DesignCohort study; Level of evidence, 2.MethodsThere were 205 female athletes in the high-risk sports of soccer, basketball, and volleyball prospectively measured for neuromuscular control using 3-dimensional kinematics (joint angles) and joint loads using kinetics (joint moments) during a jump-landing task. Analysis of variance as well as linear and logistic regression were used to isolate predictors of risk in athletes who subsequently ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament.ResultsNine athletes had a confirmed anterior cruciate ligament rupture; these 9 had significantly different knee posture and loading compared to the 196 ...

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Biomechanical Measures of Neuromuscular Control and Valgus Loading of the Knee Predict Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Risk in Female Athletes A Prospective Study

Background: Among female athletes it has not been established whether a neuromuscular and proprioceptive sports-specific training program will consistently reduce the incidence of anterior cruciate ligament injuries.Purpose: To determine whether a neuromuscular and proprioceptive performance program was effective in decreasing the incidence of anterior cruciate ligament injury within a select population of competitive female youth soccer players.Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.Methods: In 2000, 1041 female subjects from 52 teams received a sports-specific training intervention in a prospective non-randomized trial. The control group consisted of the remaining 1905 female soccer players from 95 teams participating in the same league who were age and skill matched. In the 2001 season, 844 female athletes from 45 teams were enrolled in the study, with 1913 female athletes (from 112 teams) serving as the age- and skill-matched controls. All subjects were female soccer players between the ages...

Effectiveness of a Neuromuscular and Proprioceptive Training Program in Preventing Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Female Athletes 2-Year Follow-up

Purpose: The literature has shown that anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear rates vary by gender, by sport, and in response to injury-reduction training programs. However, there is no consensus as to the magnitudes of these tear rates or their variations as a function of these variables. For example, the female-male ACL tear ratio has been reported to be as high as 9:1. Our purpose was to apply meta-analysis to the entire applicable literature to generate accurate estimates of the true incidences of ACL tear as a function of gender, sport, and injury-reduction training. Methods: A PubMed literature search was done to identify all studies dealing with ACL tear incidence. Bibliographic cross-referencing was done to identify additional articles. Meta-analytic principles were applied to generate ACL incidences as a function of gender, sport, and prior injury-reduction training. Results: Female-male ACL tear incidences ratios were as follows: basketball, 3.5; soccer, 2.67; lacrosse, 1.18; and Alpine skiing, 1.0. The collegiate soccer tear rate was 0.32 for female subjects and 0.12 for male subjects. For basketball, the rates were 0.29 and 0.08, respectively. The rate for recreational Alpine skiers was 0.63, and that for experts was 0.03, with no gender variance. The two volleyball studies had no ACL tears. Training reduced the ACL tear incidence in soccer by 0.24 but did not reduce it at all in basketball. Conclusions: Female subjects had a roughly 3 times greater incidence of ACL tears in soccer and basketball versus male subjects. Injury-reduction programs were effective for soccer but not basketball. Recreational Alpine skiers had the highest incidences of ACL tear, whereas expert Alpine skiers had the lowest incidences. Volleyball may in fact be a low-risk sport rather than a high-risk sport. Alpine skiers and lacrosse players had no gender difference for ACL tear rate. Year-round female athletes who play soccer and basketball have an ACL tear rate of approximately 5%. Level of Evidence: Level IV, therapeutic case series.

A Meta-analysis of the Incidence of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tears as a Function of Gender, Sport, and a Knee Injury–Reduction Regimen

Background:Injury to the ipsilateral graft used for reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) or a new injury to the contralateral ACL are disastrous outcomes after successful ACL reconstruction (ACLR), rehabilitation, and return to activity. Studies reporting ACL reinjury rates in younger active populations are emerging in the literature, but these data have not yet been comprehensively synthesized.Purpose:To provide a current review of the literature to evaluate age and activity level as the primary risk factors in reinjury after ACLR.Study Design:Systematic review and meta-analysis.Methods:A systematic review of the literature was conducted via searches in PubMed (1966 to July 2015) and EBSCO host (CINAHL, Medline, SPORTDiscus [1987 to July 2015]). After the search and consultation with experts and rating of study quality, 19 articles met inclusion for review and aggregation. Population demographic data and total reinjury (ipsilateral and contralateral) rate data were recorded from each in...

Risk of Secondary Injury in Younger Athletes After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

An expanding spectrum of acute and chronic non-infectious inflammatory diseases is uniquely responsive to IL-1β neutralization. IL-1β-mediated diseases are often called "auto-inflammatory" and the dominant finding is the release of the active form of IL-1β driven by endogenous molecules acting on the monocyte/macrophage. IL-1β activity is tightly controlled and requires the conversion of the primary transcript, the inactive IL-1β precursor, to the active cytokine by limited proteolysis. Limited proteolysis can take place extracellularly by serine proteases, released in particular by infiltrating neutrophils or intracellularly by the cysteine protease caspase-1. Therefore, blocking IL-1β resolves inflammation regardless of how the cytokine is released from the cell or how the precursor is cleaved. Endogenous stimulants such as oxidized fatty acids and lipoproteins, high glucose concentrations, uric acid crystals, activated complement, contents of necrotic cells, and cytokines, particularly IL-1 itself, induce the synthesis of the inactive IL-1β precursor, which awaits processing to the active form. Although bursts of IL-1β precipitate acute attacks of systemic or local inflammation, IL-1β also contributes to several chronic diseases. For example, ischemic injury, such as myocardial infarction or stroke, causes acute and extensive damage, and slowly progressive inflammatory processes take place in atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis and smoldering myeloma. Evidence for the involvement of IL-1β and the clinical results of reducing IL-1β activity in this broad spectrum of inflammatory diseases are the focus of this review.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/eji.201141550

A clinical perspective of IL-1β as the gatekeeper of inflammation

Purpose To evaluate whether decreased hamstring autograft size and decreased patient age are predictors of early graft revision. Methods Of 338 consecutive patients undergoing primary anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with hamstring autograft, 256 (75.7%) were evaluated. Graft size and patient age, gender, and body mass index at the time of ACL reconstruction were recorded, along with whether subsequent ACL revision was performed. Results The 256 patients comprised 136 male and 120 female patients and ranged in age from 11 to 52 years (mean, 25.0 years). The mean follow-up was 14 months (range, 6 to 47 months). Revision ACL reconstruction was performed in 18 of 256 patients (7.0%) at a mean of 12 months after surgery (range, 3 to 31 months). Revision was performed in 1 of 58 patients (1.7%) with grafts greater than 8 mm in diameter, 9 of 139 patients (6.5%) with 7.5- or 8-mm-diameter grafts, and 8 of 59 patients (13.6%) with grafts 7 mm or less in diameter ( P = .027). There was 1 revision performed in the 137 patients aged 20 years or older (0.7%), but 17 revisions were performed in the 119 patients aged under 20 years (14.3%) ( P P = .005), decreased graft size (OR, 2.20; 95% CI, 1.00 to 4.85; P = .05), and increased follow-up time (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.12) were associated with increased risk of revision. Conclusions Decreased hamstring autograft size and decreased patient age are predictors of early graft revision. Use of hamstring autografts 8 mm in diameter or less in patients aged under 20 years is associated with higher revision rates. Level of Evidence Level III, retrospective comparative study.

Graft Size and Patient Age Are Predictors of Early Revision After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction With Hamstring Autograft

Background: The relationship between volume and outcome of total knee arthroplasties has never been evaluated in a nationally representative sample, to our knowledge. We hypothesized that surgeons and hospitals with higher patient volumes would have better outcomes, as defined by lower mortality rates, shorter hospital stays, and lower postoperative complication rates.

Methods: The 1997 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Nationwide Inpatient Sample, Release 6, provided discharge abstracts of patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty from a national stratified probability sample. Logistic and multiple regression models were used to estimate the adjusted association of surgeon or hospital volume with rates of in-hospital mortality, pulmonary thromboembolism, deep venous thrombosis in the lower extremity, and postoperative wound infection as well as length of hospital stay. Estimates were calculated for a target population of 277,550 patients. Models were adjusted for comorbidity, age, gender, race, household income, and procedure (primary or revision arthroplasty).

Results: The patients were mostly white (70.2%) and female (62.7%), with a mean age of 68.9 years. The overall in-hospital mortality rate for the target population was 0.2%, and the average length of stay was 4.6 days for the primary total knee arthroplasties and 4.9 days for the revision procedures. Surgeon volumes of at least fifteen procedures per year and hospital volumes of at least eighty-five per year were significantly and linearly associated with lower mortality rates (odds ratio = 0.56 [0.24 to 1.31] for surgeon volume of ≥ 60). No other association demonstrated a significant and directionally consistent linear trend for improved outcomes.

Conclusion: Patients treated by providers with lower caseload volumes had higher rates of mortality following total knee arthroplasty in 1997. Proposing volume standards could decrease patient mortality following this procedure.

Level of Evidence: Prognostic study, Level II-1 (retrospective study). See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Provider Volume of Total Knee Arthroplasties and Patient Outcomes in the HCUP-Nationwide Inpatient Sample

Background: Massive irreparable rotator cuff tears in patients without advanced glenohumeral arthritis can pose a challenge to surgeons. Numerous management strategies have been utilized, and studies have shown varied results with regard to shoulder pain, range of motion, strength, and overall function.Hypothesis: Patients undergoing repair of massive irreparable rotator cuff tears through a mini-open approach with the use of human dermal tissue matrix allograft would demonstrate an improvement in pain, range of motion, strength, and subjective functional outcomes.Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4.Methods: We performed a prospective observational study of 24 patients who underwent interposition repair of massive rotator cuff tears using human dermal allograft. All patients were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively by the treating surgeon. Data were collected preoperatively and postoperatively for an average 3-year follow-up period (range, 29-40 months). Active range of motion as well...

Dermal Tissue Allograft for the Repair of Massive Irreparable Rotator Cuff Tears

With the participation of women in athletics growing rapidly over the last two decades, a disturbing gender-specific pre-disposition has emerged regarding anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries of the knee. Female athletes have a two- to eightfold higher incidence of ACL injury than their male counterparts. It is estimated that 38,000 women sustain ACL tears per year. The majority of ACL injuries in female athletes occur through noncontact mechanisms, most often during deceleration activities, such as landing from a jump or cutting. The risk factors for noncontact ACL injuries can be categorized as intrinsic (anatomic and hormonal) and extrinsic (environmental and biomechanical). This article will discuss these risk factors that are thought to contribute to the higher incidence of ACL injuries in women, the development of prevention strategies, and the outcomes of ACL reconstruction in women.

Alison P. Toth

Papers

Graft Size and Patient Age Are Predictors of Early Revision After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction With Hamstring Autograft

Provider Volume of Total Knee Arthroplasties and Patient Outcomes in the HCUP-Nationwide Inpatient Sample

Dermal Tissue Allograft for the Repair of Massive Irreparable Rotator Cuff Tears

Anterior cruciate ligament injuries in the female athlete.

Effects of intraarticular IL1-Ra for acute anterior cruciate ligament knee injury: a randomized controlled pilot trial (NCT00332254)