Affiliation:
1. University of Virginia, Charlottesville;
2. Central Michigan University, Mt Pleasant
Abstract
Context:
Persistent muscle weakness after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction may be due to underlying activation failure and arthrogenic muscle inhibition (AMI). Knee-joint cryotherapy has been shown to improve quadriceps function transiently in those with AMI, thereby providing an opportunity to improve quadriceps muscle activation and strength in patients with a reconstructed ACL.
Objective:
To compare quadriceps muscle function in patients with a reconstructed ACL who completed a 2-week intervention including daily cryotherapy (ice bag), daily exercises, or both.
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Setting:
Laboratory.
Patients or Other Participants:
A total of 30 patients with reconstructed ACLs who were at least 6 months post-index surgery and had measurable quadriceps AMI.
Intervention(s):
The patients attended 4 supervised visits over a 2-week period. They were randomly assigned to receive 20 minutes of knee-joint cryotherapy, 1 hour of therapeutic rehabilitation exercises, or cryotherapy followed by exercises.
Main Outcome Measure(s):
We measured quadriceps Hoffmann reflex, normalized maximal voluntary isometric contraction torque, central activation ratio using the superimposed-burst technique, and patient-reported outcomes before and after the intervention period.
Results:
After the 2-week intervention period, patients who performed rehabilitation exercises immediately after cryotherapy had higher normalized maximal voluntary isometric contraction torques (P = .002, Cohen d effect size = 1.4) compared with those who received cryotherapy alone (P = .16, d = 0.58) or performed exercise alone (P = .16, d = 0.30).
Conclusions:
After ACL reconstruction, patients with AMI who performed rehabilitation exercises immediately after cryotherapy experienced greater strength gains than those who performed cryotherapy or exercises alone.
Publisher
Journal of Athletic Training/NATA
Subject
Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation,Orthopedics and Sports Medicine,General Medicine
Cited by
44 articles.
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