Young Athlete Returns to Soccer after ACL Surgery

Megan Toni, a Long Grove resident and high school athlete who had a series of anterior cruciate ligament, ACL, injuries that could have been career-ending, was able to turn a very tough situation into a positive one.  During junior high and her freshman year of high school, Megan was recovering from ACL injuries on her right knee from playing soccer. After her surgery in June of 2013, it was questionable whether she would be able to play any sport again.  But Megan wouldn’t let anything stop her.  She decided to leave soccer and instead compete in track and field. Megan is back to being quick and agile, and has excelled on the varsity track team as a long distance runner.

Whether on the field or court, there’s no mistaking the dreaded “pop” when an athlete tears an ACL.  Nationwide, about 400,000 athletes are hit by ACL tears every year.  Experts say that number continues to rise, in part because of muscle overuse from playing one sport year round and the lack of good training and coaching.

Megan visited Dr. Brian Cole, MD, who is a sports medicine physician at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (MOR) and team physician for the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls who performed surgery on Derrick Rose.

Dr. Cole is concerned with the rising number of young athletes, like Megan, who are enduring ACL injuries. He attributes injuries to overuse of the muscles from playing one sport all year round and not taking time to rest in between practices and competitions. Megan’s mother agrees and says that from an early age Megan loved to push herself physically. It’s not surprising that her knee gave out on the field.

Physicians at MOR documented a 71 percent increase in ACL surgeries over the past six years.  But, what’s more troubling, is the growing number of young athletes who are sidelined because of ACL tears.  MOR physicians noticed a huge jump -- 83 percent -- in the number of ACL surgeries in the 25 and under age group over the past six years.  Last year alone, MOR performed nearly 600 ACL procedures – that’s one of the highest number of ACL surgeries of any orthopedic practice in Illinois. But there’s good news too.  A recent study done by physicians at MOR shows that there is a 77 percent return to sport rate in soccer athletes after ACL reconstruction surgery.

Megan is not alone among young female athletes.  The physiological makeup of females puts them at higher risk for ACL injuries. A study by The American Academy of Pediatrics showed girls are up to eight times more at risk of an ACL tear than boys. Additional studies point towards factors such as hormones and skeletal structures that make female bodies less able to endure stress, as reasons why there are more ACL tears in females than males.