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Prevention of non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injuries in sports. Part II: systematic review of the effectiveness of prevention programmes in male athletes

  • Sports Medicine
  • Published:
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

To synthesize the results of systematic literature review focused on the effectiveness of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury prevention programmes in male athletes.

Methods

All abstracts and articles of potential interest identified through the systematic literature search were reviewed in detail to determine on inclusion status. Information regarding prevention programmes to reduce ACL injuries or to modify risk factors for ACL injuries in male athletes was systematically extracted and included intervention and study design, characteristics of participants, sport and level of competition, characteristics of prevention programmes, results, and conclusions. All studies were evaluated for methodological quality to assess the risk of bias.

Results

The principal findings of this systematic review are as follows: (1) most of the studies applied prevention programmes that utilized risk factors as outcomes of interest as opposed to ACL injury incidence (5 and 2 studies, respectively); (2) the effectiveness of prevention programmes to reduce ACL injuries in male athletes is equivocal (1 in favour, 1 against) and only refers to soccer players; (3) the effectiveness of prevention programmes to modify risk factors for ACL injuries in male athletes is controversial (2 in favour, 3 against) and outcome data are limited to cutting manoeuvres.

Conclusion

Data regarding the effectiveness of prevention programmes to reduce ACL injuries or to modify risk factors for ACL injuries in male athletes are scarce and not conclusive. Future research to better determine the most effective approaches to optimize the effectiveness of prevention programmes targeted to reduce ACL injuries in male athletes is warranted.

Level of evidence

Systematic review on level I–II evidence studies, Level II.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital del Mar–Parc de Salut Mar, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Passeig Marítim 25-29, 08003, Barcelona, Spain

    Eduard Alentorn-Geli

  2. Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

    Eduard Alentorn-Geli

  3. Department of Physical Therapy, Zentrum Rehab and Performance Center, Barañain, Navarre, Spain

    Jurdan Mendiguchía

  4. Department of Orthopaedics, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, Sweden

    Kristian Samuelsson & Jon Karlsson

  5. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Volker Musahl

  6. Fundación García-Cugat, Barcelona, Spain

    Ramon Cugat

  7. Mutualidad de Futbolistas, Federación Española de Fútbol-Delegación Cataluña, Barcelona, Spain

    Ramon Cugat

  8. Division of Sports Medicine, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Gregory D. Myer

  9. Departments of Pediatrics and Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Gregory D. Myer

  10. The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, Boston, MA, USA

    Gregory D. Myer

Authors
  1. Eduard Alentorn-Geli
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  2. Jurdan Mendiguchía
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  3. Kristian Samuelsson
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  4. Volker Musahl
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  5. Jon Karlsson
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  6. Ramon Cugat
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  7. Gregory D. Myer
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Correspondence to Eduard Alentorn-Geli.

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Alentorn-Geli, E., Mendiguchía, J., Samuelsson, K. et al. Prevention of non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injuries in sports. Part II: systematic review of the effectiveness of prevention programmes in male athletes. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 22, 16–25 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-013-2739-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-013-2739-x

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