Prompt: ACL Reconstruction Return-to-Sport Letter

ACL Reconstruction Return-to-Sport Letter

Use this prompt to draft a return-to-sport letter for an athlete following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction — addressed to a club medical officer, coach, or sports governing body.

Draft a return-to-sport letter from an orthopaedic surgeon to 
[[recipient — e.g. "the club medical officer" or "the team 
physiotherapist"]].

Patient: athlete aged [[patient_age — e.g. "24"]], 
[[sport — e.g. "professional football player"]].
Procedure: ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) reconstruction, 
[[graft — e.g. "hamstring graft"]].
Time since surgery: [[timeframe — e.g. "6 months"]].

Current status: [[current_status — e.g. "completed running and 
agility programme, strength testing satisfactory, cleared for 
graduated return to non-contact training"]]

Current restrictions: [[restrictions — e.g. "no full contact 
training at this stage; contact training may be considered at 
7–8 months subject to ongoing physiotherapy assessment and 
clinical review"]]

Return to full competition: [[competition_timeline — e.g. 
"full match play anticipated at 9 months, subject to satisfactory 
progress at clinical review"]]

Format: formal letter. Tone: professional and specific. 
The recipient needs to know exactly what the athlete can and 
cannot do.

Why this works

The specific sport and recipient helps the tool calibrate the language appropriately — a letter to a professional football club's medical officer reads differently from one to a school games teacher. Making the restrictions conditional ("subject to ongoing assessment") rather than definite protects both the patient and the clinician if the rehabilitation progresses differently than anticipated.

How to tweak it

• To add a requirement for re-referral before full return, add: "Include a sentence stating that the athlete should be seen in clinic before commencing full contact training, and that the club should contact the orthopaedic team to arrange this."
• For a patient returning to a contact sport with particularly high re-injury risk, add: "Include a brief note that return to high-contact sport carries a re-injury risk, and that the athlete has been counselled on this."

Remember: AI is a helpful assistant, not a clinician. You make the call.