title: Antecedent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery and optimal duration of supervised physiotherapy.
abstract: A 22-year-old patient undergoing unilateral surgical reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of the right knee volunteered for the research project and followed an established contemporary hospital-based rehabilitation programme. The patient was supervised post-surgically by an experienced and clinically specialized physiotherapist. The clinical outcomes of rehabilitation were assessed by selected validated patient-reported and objectively-measured outcomes of functional performance capability on four different occasions (pre-surgery, 6th, 12th and 24th week post-surgery). The patient scored 30, 56, 60 and 85 on IKDC (maximum score, 100); 46, 53, 90 and 91 on Lysholm (maximum score, 100); 141, 73, 128 and 175 on K-SES (maximum score, 220); 17, 12, 6 and 6 on the symptom subsection of KOOS (maximum score, 28); 7, 7, 5 and 5 on the pain subsection (maximum score, 36); 1, 0, 3 and 1 on the daily function subsection (maximum score, 68); 0, 0, 5 and 5 on the sport and recreation function subsection (maximum score, 20); 13, 11, 15 and 13 on the quality of life subsection (maximum score, 16) of KOOS at pre-surgery and at the 6th, 12th and 24th week following ACL reconstruction, respectively. Moreover, the patient scored 1.96 m, 1.92 m and 1.99 m on single-leg hop (injured leg) when assessed at pre-surgery and at the 12th and 24th week post-surgery, respectively, following ACL reconstruction. The total time spent in supervised rehabilitation by the patient (675 minutes) was computed as the aggregate patient-reported time spent in exercise during each hospital-based rehabilitation session (verified by physiotherapist evaluation) across the total number of sessions. The patient managed to return to the sport in which he had participated prior to the injury, immediately after the completion of the contemporary rehabilitation programme, at 24 weeks post-surgery. A total of fifteen physiotherapy sessions supervised by the physiotherapist, were attended by the patient during the 24 week rehabilitation period. The latter number of physiotherapy sessions was substantially less than the average supervised physiotherapy sessions reported in the literature.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK.|Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Haider
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Darain
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Abdulhameed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alkitani
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yates
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Sports Injury Surgery, Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Shropshire, UK.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Sports Injury Surgery, Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Shropshire, UK.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Coutts
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Nigel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gleeson
mesh_terms: D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; D059549:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction / Q000379:methods*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anterior cruciate ligament; contemporary rehabilitation; hospital-based rehabilitation; structured rehabilitation; supervised rehabilitation