Pain and affective distress before and after ACL surgery: a comparison of amateur and professional male soccer players in the early postoperative period.

Pain thresholds and levels of distress before and in the early postoperative period after anterior cruciate ligament surgery were measured in professional and amateur male soccer players and compared. Between June 2005 and March 2007, 30 soccer players (10 amateur, 20 professional) with acute or chronic tears of the anterior cruciate ligament who were scheduled for a bone-tendon-bone ACL reconstruction procedure were enrolled in the study. Measures of pain intensity, depression and anxiety were assessed 1 day pre-operation and 1 week and 3 weeks post-operation (T1 T2 and T3). Pain was assessed using a visual analog scale (VAS), depression with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and anxiety with both the state and trait forms of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Scores on the VAS, BDI, and STAI in both groups were analyzed. The mean VAS scores at T1 and T2 in professional players were not significantly higher than those in amateur players (P>0.05). Professionals had significantly higher BDI scores at T1 and T2 (P<0.05), but this difference was not significant at T3 (P=0.12). High depression scores did not correlate with high pain scores. Pain scores between professional and amateur soccer players with ACL injuries were not significantly different pre-op or in the early post-op period. Depression was more common in professionals before and after their ACL surgery, but anxiety levels were not significantly different between the two groups.