Reliability and Repeatability of ACL Quick Check®: A Methodology for on Field Lower Limb Joint Kinematics and Kinetics Assessment in Sport Applications

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) lesion represents one of the most dramatic sport injuries. Even though clinical screenings aiming at identifying subjects at risk of injuries are gaining popularity, the use of sophisticated equipment still represents a barrier towards their widespread use. This study aimed to test both reliability and repeatability of a new methodology to assess lower limb joints kinematics and kinetics directly on field with the aid of video cameras and plantar pressure insoles. Ten athletes and one case study (post ACL surgery) were assessed in a gait laboratory, while performing double leg squats, through the simultaneous acquisition of stereophotogrammetry, force plates, commercial video cameras and plantar pressure insoles. Different sources of errors were investigated and both reliability and repeatability analysis performed. Minimum and maximum RMSE values of 0.74% (right knee joint center trajectory) and 64.51%, respectively (ankle dorsi-plantarflexion moment), were detected. Excellent to good correlation was found for the majority of the measures, even though very poor and inverse between-trials correlation was found on a restricted number of trials especially for the ankle dorsi-plantarflexion moment. These findings could be used in combination with already available screening tools in order to provide more repeatable results.

ACCELERATED REHABILITATION VERSUS CONVENTIONAL REHABILITATION AFTER ACL RECONSTRUCTION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY.

Objective: To know whether accelerated or conventional rehabilitation is effective after Anterior Cruciate ligament reconstruction. Material & Methods: 30 subjects were selected who fullled the predetermined inclusive and exclusive criteria. The subjects were divided into two groups, 15 in each group. Group A underwent Accelerated Rehabilitation and Group B underwent Conventional rehabilitation post ACL surgery. Visual analogue score(VAS) and Knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome Score(KOOS) was used as a measure of pain and function respectively. Results: Reduction in pain and improvement in function following rehabilitation is seen in both the groups. There is signicant difference in VAS(p<0.001) and KOOS(p<0.001) in group receiving accelerated rehabilitation following ACL reconstruction. Conclusion: Accelerated rehabilitation is effective over convential rehabilitaion post ACL surgery

Using a self-rehabilitation application alone can effectively combat post-ACL ligament reconstruction flexion contracture during the COVID-19 lockdown

Objectives: The lockdown during the COVID-19 crisis deprived the majority of patients who had undergone ACL surgery of access to their physical therapist. The objective of the study was to analyze the benefit of using a self-rehabilitation application to combat post-ligament reconstruction flexion contracture in the absence of rehabilitation during the lockdown. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study that compared 2 groups of patients who had undergone ACL reconstruction: the "App" group that underwent surgery between 10 February and 15 March 2020 were partially or totally deprived of access to a physiotherapist due to the COVID-19 lockdown and had completed rehabilitation using a self-rehabilitation application, and the "Physio" group that underwent surgery between 16 May and 23 December 2019 and had completed rehabilitation with a physiotherapist. Results: 148 patients were included in the study: 47 in the "App" group and 101 in the "Physio" group. Mean flexion contracture 3 weeks postoperatively was 1.3° +/- 3.8 in the "App" group versus 3.3° +/- 4 in the "Physio" group (p=0.002). The rate of flexion contractures was 45% in the “App” group and 65% in the “Physio” group (p=0.025). 71.4% of the patients acquired knee locking on weight-bearing with crutches in the "App" group, compared to 40.6% in the "Physio" group (p<0.01). No significant difference was noted between the two groups concerning the degree and rate of flexion contractures 6 weeks postoperatively and quadriceps recovery at 3 and 6 weeks postoperatively. Conclusion: Our study showed that the use of a self-rehabilitation application that targets flexion contracture control and quadriceps recovery in the first 6 weeks after ACL reconstruction provides similar results to a rehabilitation protocol by an independent physiotherapist.

The Effectiveness and Recommendation of Motor Imagery Techniques for Rehabilitation after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Systematic Review

Motor imagery (MI) reported positive effects in some musculoskeletal rehabilitation processes. The main objective of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of MI interventions after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. A systematic review was conducted from November 2018 to December 2019 in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro). The methodological quality, degree of recommendation, and levels of evidence were analyzed. A total of six studies were included. Selected studies showed unequal results (positive and negative) regarding pain, anxiety, fear of re-injury, function, and activities of daily living. Regarding the range of motion, anthropometric measurements, and quality of life, the results were not conclusive. Muscle activation, strength, knee laxity, time to remove external support, and neurobiological factors showed some favorable results. Nevertheless, the results were based on a limited number of studies, small sample sizes, and a moderate-weak degree of recommendation. In conclusion, our review showed a broader view of the current evidence, including a qualitative assessment to implement MI after ACL surgery. There was no clear evidence that MI added to physiotherapy was an effective intervention after ACL surgery, although some studies showed positive results in clinical outcomes. More adequately-powered long-term randomized controlled trials are necessary.

A systematic review comparing the results of early vs delayed ligament surgeries in single anterior cruciate ligament and multiligament knee injuries

Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare clinical outcomes and incidence of concomitant injuries in patients undergoing early vs delayed surgical treatment of single anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and multiligament knee injury (MLKI). Methods A literature search using PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, and Scopus from their inception to April 30, 2020 was conducted. Studies with levels I to IV evidence reporting the incidence of meniscus or cartilage injury according to early vs delayed surgery in single ACL injuries and MLKIs were included. In the meta-analysis, data based on the number of meniscus and cartilage injuries were extracted and pooled. Lysholm and Tegner scores were analyzed using two-sample Z-tests to calculate the non-weighted mean difference (NMD). A meta-regression analysis was also performed to determine the effect of single ACL injury and MLKI/study design. Results Sixteen studies on single ACL injury and 14 studies on MLKI were included in this analysis. In the analysis, there were significant decreases in Lysholm score (NMD − 5.3 [95% confidence interval (CI) − 7.37 to − 3.23]) and Tegner score (NMD − 0.25 [95% CI − 0.45 to − 0.05]) and increases in risk of meniscus tear (odds ratio [OR] 1.73 [95% CI 1.1–2.73], p = 0.01) and cartilage injury (OR 2.48 [95% CI 1.46–4.2], p = 0.0007) in the delayed surgery group regardless of single ACL injury or MLKI. The result of the meta-regression analysis indicated that single ACL injury and MLKI/study design were not significant moderators of overall heterogeneity (p > 0.05). Conclusions Our study suggests that delayed ACL surgery significantly resulted in a higher risk of meniscus tear and cartilage injury and decreased Lysholm and Tegner scores compared to early ACL surgery. The Lysholm scores in the delayed MLKI surgery group were significantly decreased, but the risks of meniscus tear and cartilage injury in the delayed MLKI surgery group remained unclear. Level of evidence Level III, meta-analysis.

ACL surgical innovation cycles: what goes around, comes around

Over the past 45 years, the ‘gold standards’ for ACL surgery have evolved considerably. Many discoveries in the field of ACL surgery seem to come and go, in cycles. The aim of this paper was to confirm these cyclic phenomena by methodically researching the ACL literature. It proposes a bibliometric research of the literature over the last 45 years to assess temporal changes in publications on 3 topics of high interest in ACL surgery for which we hypothesised a cycle phenomenon: surgery to address anterolateral knee instability, ACL repair and prosthetic ACL reconstruction grafts. We searched PubMed from 1975 to 2019 with different equations and different Boolean operators. Review results are presented as graphs depicting the evolution of the annual publication number over the total number of PubMed results that year. Graph analysis confirmed cycles of interest in these 3 fields. When this analysis was put into perspective with the major historical articles in each field, cycles seem to have 5 typical phases: hope, inflation, disillusion, eclipse and rebirth. The initial hope-inflation and rebirth phase trend peak interval was approximately 35 years. Rebirth trend peak slope trajectories for each topic seemed to display more rapid and stronger rise times than the initial trend peak slope trajectories. These cyclic phenomena that were observed suggest that knee surgeons need to better balance early enthusiasm and hope for innovative surgical practice efficacy with the guidance of both scientific rigour derived evidence and history.