Competing After ACL Injury: Profiles of Division 1 Athletes who Successfully Return to Sport: 1748 Board #7 May 30 3:45 PM - 5:45 PM

Female athletes face significant risk of musculoskeletal injury when playing collegiate level sports. Sustaining injury, particularly to the ACL, can end an athlete's career. Prior research has evaluated individuals’ movement profiles and patient reported outcomes (PROs) following ACL injury; however, there is a dearth of evidence evaluating the movement profile and PROs of those who successfully return to sport at an elite level following ACL injury. PURPOSE: To compare the movement profile and PROs of Division 1 women’s college athletes who successfully return to sport following ACL injury to healthy athletes. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data on 66 participants collected as part of standard injury screening for Division 1 women's soccer, lacrosse, and field hockey teams (mean ± SD; Age = 19.9 ± 1.3 yrs, Ht = 166.6 ± 5.8 cm, Wt = 64.1 ± 8.1 lbs). We used health history and survey data to identify those who had previously sustained an ACL injury as well as single assessment numeric evaluation (SANE) scores for the knee. The Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) was used to evaluate each athlete's movement pattern while completing a jump landing task. The LESS and SANE scores for the injured and non-injured groups were compared using T-Tests with pooled variance (α=0.05). RESULTS: T-Test results showed that those athletes who went on to play Division 1 sports following ACL injury (n=18) had significantly better (p<0.02) LESS scores than did their previously uninjured counterparts (Successful Return: 3.9 ± 1.4 faults, Previously Uninjured: 5.2 ± 2.0). SANE scores were significantly different (p<0.03) in the opposing direction (Successful Return: 89.8 points ± 7.6, Previously Uninjured: 95.3 ±9.1). CONCLUSION: Female athletes who successfully returned to compete in Division 1 sports following an ACL injury demonstrated a better movement profile than those without history of ACL injury; notably scoring below previously established cut points (5.0 faults) for increased risk of injury. This was in the setting of the lower PRO scores than their uninjured counterparts. This may indicate that athletes who sustain injury and wish to play at elite levels may need to improve their movement profile to a point better than their peers and care must be taken to balance PROs with an objective measure of movement.