Late-breaking news

Just read a very interesting article in the NY Times about ACL surgery--and how fortuitous that it was published today! You can read the full text here, but the gist is that in several studies comparing people who underwent ACL reconstructive surgery and those who went with more conservative rehab (PT) the two groups had very similar outcomes in terms of knee stability and arthritis.

Anecdotally, the orthopedic surgeons they interviewed believed that patients who underwent surgery were much less likely to have knee problems (like a torn meniscus) down the road, but there isn't much (or any!) evidence to support that claim. Hmmmm!

*Note: I'm definitely still opting for surgery. I'm not ready to give up tennis and the option of other pivoting sports yet, and I absolutely don't want to risk further damage to my knee. Maybe down the road that will turn out not to be the best decision, but from what I know now it seems like it would require a serious lifelong commitment to maintaining strong legs to compensate for a missing ACL if I didn't have surgery.