What's New in Pediatric and Adolescent Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries?
BACKGROUND
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears in children and adolescent patients are being diagnosed and treated at an ever-increasing rates. We performed a review of recent literature regarding care of children and adolescent athletes with an ACL injury.


METHODS
PubMed database was searched for all papers related to treatment of children and adolescents with ACL injuries from October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2015, yielding 114 publications.


RESULTS
A total of 59 papers were found to have contributed important new findings. Papers were selected based on new findings in the following categories: epidemiology, anatomy, risk factors, sex disparity, prevention, surgical outcomes, timing and associated pathologies, and rehabilitation and return to sport.


CONCLUSIONS
Pediatric ACL injuries continue to rise and there are multiple surgical procedures that restore clinical function with good outcomes. Early surgical treatment is favored to prevent concomitant articular injuries. Early return to play can increase risk of reinjury and should be met with caution in this age group. Prevention strategies should be further studied and implemented in hopes of decreasing the incidence of this injury and the long-term potential damage.


METHODS
Level 4-titerature review.
Department of Orthopaedics, Duke University, Durham, NC.
Travis J
TJ
Dekker
Department of Orthopaedics, San Antonio Military Medical Center, Ft Sam Houston, TX.
Jeremy K
JK
Rush
Department of Orthopaedics, San Antonio Military Medical Center, Ft Sam Houston, TX.
Matthew R
MR
Schmitz
D000293:Adolescent; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000601:surgery*; D059549:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D000068958:Return to Sport; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors