Treatment of anterior cruciate ligament injuries in older adults: A clinical review

doi:10.5312/wjo.125554

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World Journal of Orthopedics

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2218-5836

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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA

Evidence Review

Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.

World J Orthop. Oct 18, 2026; 17(10): 125554
Published online Oct 18, 2026. doi: 10.5312/wjo.125554

Treatment of anterior cruciate ligament injuries in older adults: A clinical review

Yan-Feng Jia, Hao-Nan Wang, Li-Qun Xu, Ran Sun

Yan-Feng Jia, Li-Qun Xu, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Jingjiang People’s Hospital Affiliated to Yangzhou University, Taizhou 214500, Jiangsu Province, China

Hao-Nan Wang, Ran Sun, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050051, Hebei Province, China

Author contributions: Jia YF was involved in the conception and design of the study, data collection, and manuscript drafting; Sun R proposed the study concept, and critically revised the manuscript; Xu LQ contributed to the drafting and revision of the manuscript; Wang HN participated in data analysis and interpretation, and manuscript revision. All authors approved the final version to publish.

AI contribution statement: Portions of this manuscript were edited using AI tools solely for language refinement. The authors carefully reviewed and verified all AI-assisted outputs and take full responsibility for the scientific content of the manuscript.

Supported by Medical Talents Training Program of the Health Commission of Hebei Province, No. ZF2026179; Jingjiang People’s Hospital Hospital-Level Scientific Research Fund Project, No. JRY-KY-2026-022; and Medical Scientific Research Project of the Health Commission of Hebei Province, No. 20230684.

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

Corresponding author: Ran Sun, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, No. 139 Ziqiang Road, Shijiazhuang 050051, Hebei Province, China. sunran1977@126.com

Received: July 15, 2026
Revised: August 1, 2026
Accepted: September 18, 2026
Published online: October 18, 2026
Processing time: 98 Days and 17 Hours

Core Tip

Core Tip: Advanced age, generally defined as ≥ 50 years, is no longer considered a contraindication to surgical treatment of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. ACL reconstruction, particularly using all-inside techniques, can achieve outcomes in older adults comparable to those in younger patients. Less-invasive ACL repair may be appropriate for selected patients with proximal ACL tears. Treatment decisions should be based on activity level, functional demands, comorbidities, and the extent of knee degeneration rather than chronological age alone.