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Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are more common in women than men, perhaps in part because of fluctuating estrogen levels. Danish investigators used national registry data to study the effects of low-dose (<35µg estrogen daily) oral contraceptive (OC) use on risk for undergoing ACL surgery (a proxy for ACL injury). A total of 4497 women who underwent ACL repair between 2005 and 2011 were matched by age at surgery with 8858 women without ACL injury; mean age was 24, and 41% of cases were younger than 20.
In analysis adjusted for obesity, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use, income level, immigration status, and pregnancy or birth status, ever users of OCs were 18% less likely (relative risk, 0.82) than never users to have underg…