The NFL Orthopaedic Surgery Outcomes Database (NO-SOD): The Effect of Common Orthopaedic Procedures on Football Careers.
Injuries are inherent to the sport of American football and often require operative management. Outcomes have been reported for certain surgical procedures in professional athletes in the National Football League (NFL), but there is little information comparing the career effect of these procedures.



To catalog the postoperative outcomes of orthopaedic procedures in NFL athletes and to compare respective prognoses and effects on careers.



Case series; Level of evidence, 4.



Athletes in the NFL undergoing procedures for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, Achilles tendon tears, patellar tendon tears, cervical disc herniation, lumbar disc herniation, sports hernia, knee articular cartilage repair (microfracture technique), forearm fractures, tibial shaft fractures, and ankle fractures were identified through team injury reports or other public records. Game and performance statistics during the regular season were collected before and after surgery. Statistical analysis was performed with significance accepted as P < .05.



A total of 559 NFL athletes were included. Overall, 79.4% of NFL athletes returned to play after an orthopaedic procedure. Forearm open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF), sports hernia repair, and tibia intramedullary nailing (IMN) led to significantly higher return-to-play (RTP) rates (90.2%-96.3%), while patellar tendon repair led to a significantly lower rate (50%) (P < .001). Athletes undergoing ACL reconstruction (ACLR), Achilles tendon repair, patellar tendon repair, and ankle fracture ORIF had significant declines in games played at 1 year and recovered to baseline at 2 to 3 years after surgery. Athletes undergoing ACLR, Achilles tendon repair, patellar tendon repair, and tibia IMN had decreased performance in postoperative season 1. Athletes in the Achilles tendon repair and tibia IMN cohorts recovered to baseline performance, while those in the ACLR and patellar tendon repair cohorts demonstrated sustained decreases in performance.



ACLR, Achilles tendon repair, and patellar tendon repair have the greatest effect on NFL careers, with patellar tendon repair faring worst with respect to the RTP rate, career length after surgery, games played, and performance at 1 year and 2 to 3 years after surgery.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA Drew/UCLA Medical Education Program, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA harrytmai@gmail.com.
Harry T
HT
Mai
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Andrew P
AP
Alvarez
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Ryan D
RD
Freshman
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Danielle S
DS
Chun
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Shobhit V
SV
Minhas
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Alpesh A
AA
Patel
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Gordon W
GW
Nuber
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Wellington K
WK
Hsu
D000125:Achilles Tendon / Q000601:surgery; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; D059549:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction; D005538:Football / Q000293:injuries*; D005593:Fracture Fixation, Internal; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019637:Orthopedic Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010329:Patella / Q000601:surgery; D017847:Patellar Ligament / Q000601:surgery
ACL; Achilles tendon; NFL; football; patellar tendon; surgery