Incidence of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tears and Reconstruction

With an annual incidence of 68.6 per 100,000 person-years, isolated ACL tears remain a common orthopaedic injury. Differences in age-specific incidence trends in male and female patients may potentially reflect differences in sports participation patterns through the high school and college years. The significant increase in the rate of ACL reconstruction over time may reflect changing surgical indications or an increasing desire among patients to return to high levels of activity after ACL injury.