Rehabilitation of ACL injuries after surgical reconstruction- Comparison of supervised vs unsupervised rehabilitation

Introduction: Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury is the most common ligament injury of the knee and is common in persons playing regular sports. Complete ACL tear leads to instability which in most cases is noncompliant with competitive sports. As much as surgery, post-op rehabilitation of these patients also play equally important role in successful clinical outcome. We have compared supervised vs unsupervised rehabilitation post arthroscopic ACL reconstruction in this study. Materials and Methods: Patients operated between June, 2014 and January, 2016 for isolated ACL reconstruction and falling in the age group of 20-45 years were included in our study. Patients having multiple trauma, medical comorbidities were excluded. Patients were given free choice to select the rehabilitation program they preferred. Outcomes were compared by tegner lysholm and IKDC scoring at 1 year follow-up. Results: After initial period of 1-3 months post-surgery, outcomes in supervised group was significantly better (p<0.05) than that of unsupervised group in terms of tegner lysholm, IKDC scoring, Quadriceps girth, single leg standing, jump performance and subjective and objective instability. Conclusion: Early instituted supervised rehabilitative treatment after surgical reconstruction of ACL aimed at rapid improvement of muscle function is of decisive role in the long term course of these patients.