Article

OBJECTIVE: To compare strength and quadriceps muscle activation in anterior
cruciate ligament-deficient patients who underwent a two-week rehabilitation
exercise program using TENS or cryotherapy. DESIGN: Randomized, controlled study.
Setting: Clinical research laboratory. Subjects: Thirty patients: 20 males, 10
females, 31.6 (13.0) years, 172.8 (10.0) cm, 75.8 (13.0) kg with diagnosed tear
of the anterior cruciate ligament. Interventions: All patients attended four
sessions of supervised quadriceps strengthening exercises over two weeks, prior
to reconstruction surgery. Patients were randomly allocated (n = 10/group) to
receive exercises alone, exercise while wearing a sensory transcutaneous
electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) device on the knee joint for the duration of
each daily session, or 20 minutes of knee joint cryotherapy immediately prior to
each daily exercise session. MAIN MEASURES: Normalized knee extension force and
quadriceps central activation ratio were measured before and after the first
supervised treatment session and within 24 hours of the last session. RESULTS:
When accounting for differences in baseline measures, there were no statistically
significant group differences immediately following the first exercise session
for knee extension force (P = 0.10) or central activation ratio (P = 0.30) nor
were there statistically significant group differences after the two-week
intervention for knee extension force (P = 0.92) or central activation ratio (P =
0.94). Effect sizes for the change in knee extension force and central activation
ratio after two weeks of therapy were all large. CONCLUSIONS: Quadriceps strength
and central activation in anterior cruciate ligament deficient patients improved
after two weeks of rehabilitaiton exercises, however, there were no significant
differences between treatment groups.

Langue : ANGLAIS