Abstract
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a common knee injury in high-intensity sports,
which can cause early career loss in young athletes. Concomitant damage to other knee
stabilizers may occur, such as the medial collateral ligament (MCL). Recent studies
have shown that knee stability can increase without surgical intervention in patients
with ACL and MCL injuries. Regarding the importance of functional tests in return
to exercise prediction, this study aims to measure nonsurgical approach's long-term
outcome for concomitant ACL and MCL injuries with a focus on functional tests. This
is a case-control study with a 2-year follow-up. The case group consisted of patients
who had provided written consent and completed their 2-year follow-up, and the control
group was made up of healthy people who did not have any knee medical conditions and
were matched by age, gender, and activity level. Physical examinations, Tegner and
International Knee Documentation Committee questionnaires, and knee magnetic resonance
imaging were conducted, and functional performance tests were performed after a 10-minute
warm-up. Lody's index (the ratio of injured-to-uninjured knee results) was calculated.
The data were analyzed using independent t -test, one-way analysis of variance, chi-squared test, and Fisher's exact test. The
study involved 11 patients in each concomitant ACL and MCL injury cases and healthy
control groups with a mean age of 32.4 and 28 years, respectively. None of the patients
reported knee instability symptoms in the 2-year follow-up. More than half of the
patients continued their sports field without reinjury, with no significant difference
in activity levels between case and control groups. The 6-meter hop test and single-leg
hop test showed no significant difference between case and control groups (p -value: 0.326, 0.859), and no significant difference was observed in the three Carioca,
cocontraction, and Shuttle tests in the 2-year follow-up. Functional tests in ACL
and MCL injuries revealed normal outcomes, implying a nonsurgical approach for patients
with proximal ACL tears, better knee stability, and no significant differences between
the injured and control groups.
Keywords anterior cruciate ligament - nonsurgical treatment - medial collateral ligament -
functional outcome
