Midterm Results Show Benefits of ACL Reconstruction in Athletic Patients Over Age 50
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries should be treated based on an athletic patient’s physiologic age, overall health, and functional goals instead of their chronologic age, which is standard practice, according to a study from NYU Langone Orthopedics.
More patients in their 50s, 60s, and beyond are remaining athletically active and are participating in sports that require cutting and pivoting types of movements, during which an intact ACL is critically important. Despite this, some surgeons are hesitant to offer ACL reconstruction to patients in this age group.
The study from NYU Langone Orthopedics includes 155 patients over age 50 who had undergone ACL reconstruction at the institution. The researchers found that in well-selected patients over age 50, ACL reconstruction can reliably restore knee stability, facilitate a return to meaningful activity, and deliver high satisfaction with low failure rates. Age alone should not be a contraindication to surgical intervention in appropriately selected patients, they said.
Although the researchers have followed these patients for just over 6 years, collecting meaningful midterm data, they said that longer-term outcomes are still needed to better understand durability and progression to osteoarthritis or arthroplasty in this age group.
Support for Individualized Decision Making
“We undertook this research in response to a clear demographic shift that we’ve seen in athletically active patients who are 50 and older, and thought that it was important to help surgeons counsel patients using data rather than assumptions,” said study author Kirk A. Campbell, MD, an associate professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
“Our hope is that this study supports thoughtful, individualized decision making and reassures both surgeons and patients that chronologic age alone should not be viewed as a contraindication to ACL reconstruction when patients’ activity level and overall quality of life are at stake.”
Source
Golant A, Padon BW, Berzolla EA, Campbell KA, Oberlag N. ACL Reconstruction Over 50: High Satisfaction and Low Failure Rates (Program Number: 125). Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, March 2-6, 2026, New Orleans, Louisiana.