Dr. Jeff Abrams
Princeton, New Jersey

Complications are rare, but do include graft loosening, hardware failure, over-constraint and stiffness, as well as typical surgical complications including nerve or vascular wound problems.

F. Alan Barber MD, FACS
Plano, Texas

No surgery is without its potential complications. As with any surgery, there is a small chance of infection and phlebitis (inflammation of the blood vessels that can lead to blood clots). There is a small chance of postoperative stiffness. Should you fall after surgery, you may damage your repair. No surgery can be completely successful in every case. Some patients do not do as well as others, but overall the success rate for ACL reconstruction is very high. Please be sure to ask your doctor if you have any other questions.

Dr. Don Johnson
Ottawa, Canada

The complications that may occur after ACL reconstruction are those that are related to any surgical procedure. They include infection and deep venous phlebitis (blood clot in the calf). The complications specifically related to the operation are loss of range of motion, anterior knee pain, persistent pain and swelling, and residual ligament laxity due to graft failure. An injury to the nerves or blood vessels after this type of surgery is extremely uncommon.

Dr. Hugh West
Salt Lake City, Utah

While there are risks with every type of orthopedic surgery, the one complication that we worry about with ACL surgery in particular is getting a stiff knee after the surgery. We have become much better about preparing people for surgery by getting their motion back and keeping them strong before their operation, and also by making sure that their rehabilitation after surgery goes as smoothly as possible. There is always a chance that someone could have a problem with an infection or a blood clot in the leg that we operate on. These complications occur less than 1% of the time, and they continue to occur in spite of the things that we do in order to prevent them from happening. This is because everyone is different, and because it is impossible to control everything that happens to the human body. The human body is a complicated system. We do our best to make sure that everything goes smoothly, and it almost always does, but we just can't always control everything or prevent some things from ever happening.