Time to return to school following ACL reconstruction: influence of the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Introduction

ACL reconstruction is commonly performed in school-aged patients for whom missed time from school can have an impact on their education. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to different ways of accessing school content. We sought to determine how many days of school school-aged patients should expect to miss following ACL reconstruction and how the availability of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic affected this.

Methods

We evaluated 53 ACL reconstruction patients in grades 7–12 undergoing surgery during the school year. Demographic, medical, and educational information were collected. Patients were placed into 1 of 2 cohorts: Group A (surgery before the COVID-19 pandemic) or Group B (surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic). We calculated days missed from school after surgery until return to either virtual or in-person school.

Results

Overall, patients returned to school after missing an average of 4.4 (SD, 3.0) days of school after ACL reconstruction surgery. Patients in Group A missed an average of 5.5 (SD, 2.9) school days, while patients in Group B missed an average of 2.3 (SD, 1.4) school days (p <.001). Eighty-nine percent of Group B patients first returned to school utilizing a virtual option. Among those returning virtually, these patients missed an average of 1.9 (SD, 0.9) school days.

Conclusions

A virtual distance learning option results in fewer missed days of school post ACL reconstruction. When given this option, school-aged patients can expect to return to school within two days post-op. Otherwise, patients should expect to miss about one week of in-person schooling. In this regard, the COVID-19 pandemic has positively impacted educational opportunities for students post-surgery, and physicians should advocate for continuing virtual options for students receiving medical treatment.

KEYWORDS:

• Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction
• COVID-19
• return to school
• virtual learning
• children

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.