Researchers out of the Sport Medicine Centre at the University of Calgary are conducting a long-term study analyzing how surgeries on ruptured anterior cruciate ligaments impact the quality of life in young people.
The study found that active and athletic young people are at high risk of knee reinjury and researchers also found patellar tendon reconstruction was the most favourable surgical procedure, yielding the best results for active youth.
Knee surgery is often recommended to prevent against the development of osteoarthritis.
"If you're 14 or 15 or 16, you've got another 70 or 80 years to live, if those important structures are damaged along with the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), then your risk of developing arthritis is much higher," said Dr. Nicholas Mohtadi, surgeon and medical director of the Sport Medicine Centre.
The 'double blind' study analyzed 330 patients who were randomly assigned one of three knee surgeries; patellar tendon, single-bundle hamstring tendon or double-bundle hamstring tendon graft. It's the largest study of its kind in the world, according to the research team.
Double blind is a research method that withholds some information from some researchers and participants to limit bias.
"So if they saw something on the internet that may have led them to believe that one type of surgery would be better than the other, by blinding them they wouldn't know that," said Denise Chan, research co-ordinator.
The study found quality of life had increased for most participants five years after surgery, all of which were performed at the Peter Lougheed Centre.
Researchers say the benchmark for studies like these is 80 per cent and that they are pleased that 95 per cent of participants returned for their five-year follow-up.
Participants are being prepared for follow-up visits 10 years post-surgery, as researchers continue to analyze X-rays.
Some funding for the study was provided by the Workers' Compensation Board of Alberta.
