Efficacy of Electromyographic Biofeedback in Muscle Recovery after Meniscectomy in Soccer Players

Abstract

Electromyographic biofeedback (EMG-BF) is a therapeutic technique that has been used successfully in the rehabilitation of injuries. Although it has been applied to athletes, its use in this field is not very widespread. The objective of this study is to analyze its effectiveness in the recovery of electromyographic activity of the quadriceps after meniscectomy, evaluated through isometric contraction of the vastus lateralis. The sample comprised ten professional footballers in the Spanish League (2nd Division A) who had previously suffered a meniscus injury in their knee and had undergone a meniscectomy. The intervention consisted of EMG-BF treatment lasting between 6 and 10 sessions. The electromyographic signal was recorded using a Thought Technology ProComp Infiniti 8-channel biofeedback unit with a sampling rate of 2048 samples/second. For each session, a within-subject ABA design of 6 or 10 trials per session was used, with three pre- and three post-measures, which determined the gain for each session. The results indicated (1) improvements in all cases, (2) EMG-BF was effective, (3) the working model was statistically significant with an explained variance of between 67% and 75%, and (4) the generalizability analysis showed that the results are reliable and generalizable. The results indicate that EMG-BF is effective in neuromuscular rehabilitation after this type of intervention.