Participant characteristics
| All participants (n=80) | Evidence of ACL healing on 3 month MRI | ||
| ACLOAS grade 1 (n=40) | ACLOAS grades 2–3 (n=40) | ||
| Age at injury (SD) | 26 (10) | 27 (10) | 26 (10) |
| Sex (% female) | 31 (39) | 14 (35) | 16 (40) |
| Time from injury to brace (days) | 8 (7) | 6 (4) | 8 (7) |
| Used private health insurance | 55 (69) | 27 (68) | 27 (68) |
| Level of pre-injury sport | |||
| Recreational | 28 (35) | 13 (33) | 15 (38) |
| Competitive | 49 (61) | 25 (63) | 23 (58) |
| Professional | 4 (5) | 2 (5) | 2 (5) |
| Contact mechanism of injury | 24 (30) | 17 (43) | 7 (18) |
| History of contralateral ACL injury | 8 (10) | 3 (8) | 5 (13) |
| Adherent to bracing protocol | 77 (96) | 37 (93) | 39 (98) |
| PRP injection | 14 (18) | 5 (13) | 9 (23) |
| Concomitant injuries* | |||
| MCL injury | 40 (50) | 17 (43) | 23 (58) |
| Meniscal injury | 39 (49) | 21 (53) | 18 (45) |
| PLC injury | 31 (39) | 20 (50) | 11 (28) |
| Bone contusion | 74 (93) | 38 (95) | 35 (88) |
| Chondral injury | 1 (1) | 1 (3) | 0 (0) |
| Subcortical fracture | 6 (8) | 3 (8) | 3 (8) |
| ACL rupture characteristics* | |||
| ACL femoral origin intact: | 36 (45) | 33 (83) | 3 (8) |
| Displacement of ACL tissue† | 17 (21) | 14 (35) | 2 (5) |
| Partial avulsion of femoral origin: | 44 (55) | 7 (18) | 37 (93) |
| Displacement of ACL tissue† | 33 (41) | 4 (10) | 29 (73) |
| Complete avulsion of femoral origin | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
Data are reported as mean (SD) or count (proportion).
For the two participants with missing 3-month MRI data, ACLOAS was estimated using ACLOAS from 6-month MRI (70 out of 75 (93%) participants with 6-month MRI data had the same ACLOAS at 3 months and 6 months).
*Concomitant injuries and ACL rupture characteristics were assessed by MRI within 3 weeks of acute ACL rupture.
†ACL tissue is displaced outside the boundaries of the intercondylar notch;.
ACLOAS, Anterior Cruciate Ligament OsteoArthritis Score; MCL, medial collateral ligament; PLC, posterior lateral corner; PRP, platelet rich plasma.