Who will take informed consent? {26a}
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Participants will undergo assessment and provide written informed consent for ACLR surgery with their treating surgeon or one of the orthopaedic department’s trainee surgeons in consultation with the treating surgeon. Patients waitlisted for primary ACLR with either of the Associate Investigators (ST or LB) will be approached and offered participation in the study. Patients will either be approached in person or via phone after their appointment. All consent for trial involvement will be performed by an informed member of the research team. The patient will be advised that they have the right to privacy and any information obtained in connection with this project and that could identify them will remain strictly confidential. Information will only be disclosed with the patient’s permission, except as required by law. They will be informed that at the time that in the unlikely event that a patient is deceased, any original paper records kept will be treated according to standardised hospital policies. Given the intention-to-treat basis of this trial, data already collected will be included within the trial analysis. Information may be used in a deidentified manner within presentations and publications in peer-reviewed medical journals. In accordance with relevant Australian and/or Victorian privacy and other relevant laws, the patient will have the right to access the information collected and stored by the researchers. Patients will be informed that they are free to refuse participation, and if they decide or withdraw at any time, they will not compromise their future medical care. In either case, they will be given a physical or digital copy of the participant information and consent form (PICF) and offered the opportunity to ask questions of any member of the research team. They will be then sent (or given) a digital consent form via REDCAP to sign electronically, which will be then stored in our institution’s secure REDCap platform. A copy of the signed consent form will also be sent to the participant.