HEALTHY PEDIATRIC ATHLETES HAVE SIGNIFICANT BASELINE LIMB ASYMMETRIES ON COMMON RETURN TO SPORT PERFORMANCE TESTS

Return to sport (RTS) after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in children is associated with a much higher risk (？30%) of subsequent ACL injury than in adults. Most RTS testing protocols use Limb Symmetry Indices (LSI) on physical performance tests (PPTs). This assumes that both lower extremities should be equal. We hypothesized that in the pediatric population, baseline limb asymmetry exists, limiting the clinical utility of LSIs. Since LSI > 90% is often used as a clinical cutoff for RTS, we defined a test as valid if 80% of healthy volunteers had an LSI > 90%