« Variables that are Related to the Risk of Injury |
Main
| Recommendations to Facilitate Progress in the Reduction of ACL Injuries »
- Number of ACL injuries per year is placed at 250,000 in the United States
- Estimates of the costs for 15 to 24 year old male and female athletes ranged from $1 billion annually in the U.S., not including diagnosis and rehabilitation (CDC, 2006), to roughly $17,000 per injury including the surgery and rehabilitation costs (Parkkari et al., 2008). These estimates do not include the non-dollar costs.
- Recovery from an ACL injury typically can take as long as a year and can include:
- emotional difficulties
- academic problems/loss of scholarship money
- ACL injured players drop out more quickly than their non-ACL injury teammates, showing a 44% reduction in high-risk sports participation (Giugliano, Solomon, 2007).
- ACL injured athletes have higher rates of re-injury upon return to the game ranging from 2% to 13% (Giugliano, Solomon, 2007).
- Rates of osteoarthritis vary widely within 10 to 20 years after the injury: between 10% to as many as 90% of those with a prior ACL injury experiencing osteoarthritis in the joint (Lohmander, et al., 2007).