Does the ACL have the capacity to heal following injury? And if it does, what might that mean for how clinicians approach ACL rehabilitation? The prevailing assumption has been that a ruptured ACL has limited capacity to heal and restore structural continuity without reconstruction. Now, a growing body of research is challenging that assumption.
In today's episode, Professor Joanna Kvist (Linköping University, Sweden) discusses new findings from the NACOX cohort examining how ACL structure changes on MRI during the first 2 years following acute ACL injury. Dr Kvist and her team found that ACL structure and fiber continuity improved over time in many participants managed without ACL reconstruction, and greater ACL continuity was associated with less knee laxity on objective measurement.
Dr Kvist explains what the ACL looked like on MRI over those 2 years, the changes in ligament thickness and fiber continuity, how those structural findings related to clinical outcomes, and what clinicians should (and shouldn't) take from these findings when discussing rehabilitation and treatment options with patients.
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