Applied Evidence

Is Knee Osteoarthritis an Inevitable Consequence for Athletes after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury?

International journal of sports physical therapy · 2026 · Narrative Review · PT

Alexandre Rambaud, Grégory Morel, Robert Prill, Nicky van Melick, Florian Forelli

PMID 42245758

A position paper calling for sports physiotherapists to extend their role beyond return to sport into long-term knee health management after ACL injury.

It reports no data of its own.

What this paper is

This is a position paper from sports physiotherapists arguing that ACL injury management should extend beyond return to sport into long-term knee health. It makes the case that post-traumatic osteoarthritis is a common long-term consequence, citing that near 40% of ACL-injured patients develop radiographic knee OA within 10 to 15 years, and calls for physiotherapists to take on a broader role in load management, early symptom recognition, and multidisciplinary follow-up. It reports no patients, no intervention, and no outcomes of its own, so there is no finding here to change your practice on.

Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →