Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and concomitant procedures in Finland between 2004 and 2018 based on national registers

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We aimed to assess the incidence of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) and concomitant procedures in Finland.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: We identified all the patients who underwent ACLR between 2004 and 2018 in Finland using national registry data.

Patients with an ICD-10 diagnosis code S83.5 and the NOMESCO operation codes NGE30 or NGE35 were included.

We recorded the patient’s age, sex, Charlson comorbidity index, and concomitant procedures.

NGE30 or NGE35 was defined as the main procedure and all other procedures attached to this procedure were included as concomitant procedures.

RESULTS: Our study included 37,224 ACLRs.

The overall incidence of ACLR was 46 (95%CI 34–62) per 10(5) person-years.

This increased from 38 per 10(5) person-years in 2004 to its peak of 53 in 2014 before decreasing to 47 by 2018.

Male patients had a higher overall incidence of ACLR than female patients (61 [CI 47–78] vs. 32 [CI 22–45] per 10(5) person-years, respectively).

However, this difference changed over time: for the males, a decrease in ACLR incidence was observed after 2014, whereas for the females, the trend increased throughout the study period.

For both sexes, the highest incidence of ACLRs was in the age group 16–29 years (159 and 71 per 10(5) person-years, respectively).

Concomitant procedures were performed at the time of ACLR in 32% of cases.

CONCLUSION: While the total incidence of ACLR decreased slightly from 2014 to 2018, it increased among women over the full study period, which might be due to increased female participation in contact sports.

Special attention should be given to girls’ and women’s ACL rupture prevention and treatment.