Specific Data on Post-Surgery Recovery for Student Athletes

At the March 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), new data was presented on the average number of recovery days students need before returning to school after sports-related surgery, and any potential barriers preventing their return.

“‘When can I return to school?’ is one of the most common questions patients and parents ask their orthopaedic surgeon,” said Zaira S. Chaudhry, M.P.H., a medical student, class of 2019, at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and a sports medicine research fellow at the Rothman Orthopaedic Institute in Philadelphia.

“Up until now, surgeons have given patients a ballpark. Our goal was to take it from a question answered based on anecdotes to one based on evidence.”

In the prospective, cohort study, “Return to School Following Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Procedures: A Prospective Study of Adolescents and Young Adults,” data on 101 patients (48.6% female, 51.5% male) was analyzed. Their ages ranged between 14 and 25 (mean age of 18.7 years). All were full-time students, with 58.8% of the patients enrolled in middle or high school and 41.2% enrolled in college.

Surgical procedures performed included:

• ACL reconstruction (54.5%)
• ACL reconstruction with meniscal repair (7.9%)
• Arthroscopic shoulder labral repair (19.8%)
• Arthroscopic hip labral repair (9.9%)
• Partial meniscectomy or meniscal repair (7.9%)

All students were asked to complete a survey on time to return to school and any barriers they faced at 2 weeks postoperatively and then another survey at 6 weeks and 12 weeks after surgery on the difficulties they faced on returning to school as well as their academic performance.

According to the data collected, the range for the number of days, including weekends, to return to school after surgery are:

• 1-14 days for ACL reconstruction
• 4-12 days for ACL reconstruction with meniscal repair
• 1-9 days for arthroscopic shoulder labral repair
• 3-16 days for arthroscopic hip labral repair
• 2-7 days for partial meniscectomy or meniscal repair

At six weeks postoperatively, 13.3% of patients felt the timing of their surgery negatively impacted their school performance. 7.1% reported failing an exam within the six months before the surgery. Twice that number (14.3%) reported failing an exam after their surgery.

The top reasons reported for failing to return to school sooner were not feeling ready to return, pain and restricted mobility.

While this is only a small study, “given the prevalence of sports-related injuries in this group of patients, it is our hope that surgeons can utilize this information to counsel their patients and their parents to help them better plan for their recovery,” added senior author, Sommer Hammoud, M.D., orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine at Rothman Orthopaedic Institute.

On the recovery challenges unique to this age group, Hammoud told OTW, “Student athletes need to balance recovering from their surgical procedure as well as keeping up with classes and coursework. Limited mobility and pain are the most common patient perceived barriers to returning to school.”

She added, “I would encourage orthopedic surgeons to talk to their patients about the expected number of days missed from school as well as the impact that a surgical procedure can have on school performance. Data from this study allows patients to plan appropriately for missed days in order to keep on track with their coursework and not fall behind.”