Effects of Postoperative Rehabilitation on Gait Parameters and Electromyography Variables in Acute and Chronic Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Surgery in Football Players

Abstract

Background and Objective. To date, there were no clinically proven and evident ACLR rehabilitation protocols developed exclusively for football players, also no comparative studies were conducted on kinematic, kinetic, and EMG parameters on postoperative rehabilitation protocol in acute and chronic ACLR. The objective of this study was to find and compare the kinematic, kinetic, and EMG effects of postoperative rehabilitation after acute and chronic ACLR surgeries in football players. Design and Setting. Using the convenience sampling method, eligible subjects were divided into three groups. The test group consisted of acute (n = 15) and chronic (n = 15) ACL injured subjects who underwent ACLR surgery and 8 weeks postoperative rehabilitation. The control group consists of (n = 15) healthy subjects. Kinematic (cadence (steps/min), step length (cm), step width (cm), double support (% of the gait cycle), and swing phase (% of the gait cycle)), kinetic (F1, early stance phase; F2, middle stance phase; and F3, late stance phase forces), and EMG data of the (biceps femoris, adductor longus, vastus medialis, and vastus lateralis) muscles were recorded and analyzed at baseline, 8 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months follow-up. Results. The results of the a-ACLR, c-ACLR, and control groups were compared. At 8 weeks following postoperative rehabilitation, the a-ACLR group shows more significant changes than the c-ACLR group ( $p<0.001$ ). At 6 and 12 months, there are normal values of kinematic and kinetic values in a-ACLR compared with the results of the control group ( $p<0.001$ ). Conclusion. The study showed that postoperative rehabilitation provides significant effects in the kinematic, kinetic, and EMG gait parameters in acute ACLR than chronic ACLR subjects. Early surgical intervention and postrehabilitation are mandatory to get the significant effects in the clinical parameters in acute and chronic ACL injury.