THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THE STOP OF ELECTIVE ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY: CLINICAL FOLLOW-UP OF INVETERATE LESIONS OF THE ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT NOT SURGICALLY TREATED

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries repre¬sent a significant epidemiological problem in the world with an estimated incidence of 1:3000 per year. Sports injuries are the most frequent cause of anterior cruciate ligament rupture and thanks to a gain in popularity and a reduction of costs, more and more people have started practicing sport and this, combined with improved diagnostic methods, lead to an increase in ACL injuries. There are three main mechanisms responsible for ACL rupture: knee-in and toe-out (dynamic alignment with the knee in valgus position and abduction of the foot), knee-out and toe-in (dynamic alignment with the knee in varus position and adduction of the foot) and hyperextension . For the past twenty years, surgical techniques for ACL reconstruction and rehabilitation have been highly developed, which enables the patients to resume the same functionality of knee as before the injury. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in the department of Orthopedics and Traumatology of San Matteo Hospital, elective surgery was suspended for about two years and no patient which suffered from ACL injury was operated upon. The aim of the study is to reassess patients aged between 18 and 50 with a ruptured ACL, which got injured at least six months ago and could not undergo surgery, and to compare the functionality of the knee back at the time of the injury with the current joint status, considering the degree of activity maintained during this time.