Objectives:It is widely believed that ACL tears are incapable of healing. However, there are anecdotal experiences of the healed ACL and sporadic case reports and series documenting either clinical or radiographic evidence of healed ACL tears. A truly healed ACL would demonstrate a clinically stable knee on Lachman and pivot shift testing, normal return to function and MRI and/or arthroscopic documentation of a continuous ligament. This is in contrast to “copers” who have an ACL deficient knee but lack instability either because of good neuromuscular control or non-participation in activities which are heavily ACL dependent. In this prospective series we report on the presentation and 5 year follow-up of patients with both clinical and radiographically healed ACLs.
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