Vol. 7, Issue 3, Part E (2021)

Aim: To assess the functional outcome between early and delayed arthroscopic reconstructed anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears.

Materials and Methods: Sixty patients with ACL injury admitted to Index Medical College Hospital form February 2017 to July 2018 were studied. The surgery was done after diagnosis was established. Early and Delayed arthroscopically reconstructed ACL done using IKDC score, Lysholm-Tegner Score, KOOS scoring and concurrently using clinical testing done by pivot shift test, Anterior drawer, Lachman test and range of movements both pre and post operatively.

Results: Sports (46.67%) was the main reason for the ACL reconstruction surgery. Among Delay and Early group, Intra-operative Chondral Injuries was found in 13 and 5 patients respectively (p=0.024). Clinical assement with Lacman Ant drawer test revealed that all the patients were positive (100%) compared to 27 (45%) patients with McMURRAY'S test and 3 (5%) patients with PIVOT SHIFT test. Forty nine (49) (85.96%) postoperative patients were found negative and 8 (14.04%) were found positive in Anterior Drawer Test. Fifty two (52) (91.22%) postoperative patients were found negative while 5 (8.73%) were found positive in Pivot Shift Test.

Conclusion: The people who underwent early surgery had better stability and early return to pre injury activity level with similar functional scores to other group.