After an athlete tears their ACL, the first question typically asked is “When can I return to sport?” Recently, some of our doctors, in collaboration with researchers at Cincinnati Children’s, evaluated the association of time from surgery following ACL reconstruction with performance and return to sport activities. The article, published in the October 2012 issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine, shows that not every athlete is ready to return to sport after ACL reconstruction based solely on time from surgery. More objective tools, such as the vertical single-limb hop test, should also be used in the decision making process. Returning to sport too soon after an ACL reconstruction puts the athlete at an increased risk of reinjury.

Read the article in its entirety below.