Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is a common injury in athletes, and is mostly treated operatively with an ACL reconstruction (ACLR). Alarmingly, research shows that 35% of athletes after an ACLR do not return to preinjury sport level within 2 years. In addition, 3–22% of athletes rerupture their ACLR and 3–24% rupture the contralateral ACL in the first 5 years after ACLR. Thus, the rehabilitation after an ACLR seems to be more challenging than frequently assumed.

The goal of this evidence statement was to describe the rehabilitation after ACLR and to encourage uniformity in physical therapy treatment and use of measurements of functional performance.