You've torn your ACL. Now what?
People with ACL injuries in the knee may want to consider physical therapy to see how well the knee heals before deciding on difficult and expensive reconstruction surgery. A study by researchers in Sweden and Denmark confirms this. The investigators followed 121 young, active adults with ACL tears, half of whom were randomly assigned to have physical therapy and surgery, while the others had physical therapy with surgery as an option later. The results suggest a wait-and-see approach may be right for some with torn ACLs and that more than half of expensive ACL reconstructions could be avoided "without adversely affecting outcomes."
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