Every year, more than 200,000 people in United States injure their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The ACL Program at Boston Children’s Hospital has the expertise in ACL repair to help these athletes recover. Our research-based injury prevention services help reduce our patients’ risk of repeat ACL tears or sprains. We also offer comprehensive psychological support, if needed, to address the social and emotional impact of an ACL injury.
Our patients include everyone from aspiring novices to Olympic competitors. We tailor our ACL reconstruction techniques to match each patient’s age and physical maturity.
Returning to play healthy and strong after an ACL tear
Our goal is the same as yours — a healthy and strong return to play.
Hundreds of athletes with ACL injuries come to our program every year for our expertise, and more than 90 percent return to their sport. We work as a team with patients and families to help athletes come back as strong, or stronger, than they were before their injury.
As part of the Sports Medicine Division at Boston Children’s Hospital, our team of orthopedic surgeons and sports medicine specialists are experts in caring for all types of knee damage, including injuries of the ACL, meniscus, and articular cartilage.
Our multidisciplinary team includes:
- Orthopedic surgeons
- Sports medicine physicians
- Injury prevention specialists
- Physical therapists
- Psychologists
- Dietitians
ACL injury prevention and return to play
Thanks to our unique partnership with The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, our patients have access to strength training and rehabilitation programs to help prevent ACL injury, or return to play safely after surgery.
Located in the same building as the Boston Children’s Waltham facility, The Micheli Center offers an ACL Injury Prevention Program. These small-group classes focus on strengthening participants’ knees, hips, and the muscles around them. Injury prevention specialists also teach athletes proper landing and squatting techniques, two motions that frequently cause ACL tears when performed incorrectly.
The Micheli Center also provides an ACL Return to Play Program for patients who have undergone ACL surgery at Boston Children’s. After surgery and physical therapy, patients work with specialists at the Micheli Center for six to 12 months to build strength, flexibility, and agility in the muscles that support and surround their knees. The program includes testing to determine when the athlete is ready to return to their sport without reinjuring their knee.
ACL injury prevention guides
These educational guides, developed by the clinicians at Boston Children’s, can help athletes reduce their risk of injury during practice and competition.
While ACL injuries are not entirely preventable, athletes can reduce their risk in a number of ways. This guide describes the role of fitness, targeted exercises, and proper athletic technique in safe athletic participation.
Girls are five times more likely to tear an ACL than boys. This guide describes how female athletes can reduce their risk of injury through neuromuscular training to strengthen and stretch key muscle groups while also improving their agility.
Innovation in ACL repair
As youth sports have become more competitive, ACL injuries in pre-adolescent and adolescent patients have risen dramatically. Not only is this the sub-population at greatest risk for a primary ACL injury, compared to all other age groups, these young athletes also have the highest rates of re-injury after surgery for an ACL tear.
Several ACL reconstruction methods have been developed for younger athletes, yet little research exists to help surgeons determine which of these methods are most effective for a patient based on their stage of growth and physical maturity, gender, and medical history.
In order to reduce variability and improve outcomes for all young athletes with torn ACLs, our team is working to close this gap in knowledge. Our current research includes:
- PLUTO, Pediatric ACL: Understanding Treatment Outcomes is a 10-year, multisite study of ACL treatment strategies in athletes who are still growing. Led by Mininder Kocher, MD, MPH, researchers at 10 participating centers around the country are studying the efficacy of ACL treatment in pediatric patients.
- SATURN, Skeletally Mature ACLR Technique Using Reinforcement Network, is a multisite study group investigating ACL procedures for patients between the ages of 13 and 19. Launched by Benton Heyworth, MD, the SATURN study aims to shed light on the long-term effectiveness of surgical methods in patients who have finished growing or almost finished growing.
