Proprioceptive and Functional Outcome of the Knee in Arthroscopic Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction of a Preserved Remnant Tissue

Background: Injury to the ACL(Anterior Cruciate Ligament) not only causes mechanical instability but also leads to functional deficit in the form of diminished proprioception of the knee joint. This study analyzes and reviews our understanding of the sensory element of ACL deficiency, with specific reference to proprioception as an important component of functional knee stability.

Method: 100 patients who underwent ACL reconstruction surgery and completed Simple and Effective Rehabilitation Protocol(SERP) with minimum duration of 2 years from surgery to follow up, were all assessed for proprioception, stability and functional outcome of the reconstructed knee. They were assessed by the knee joint position sense, single leg hop test for both the normal and reconstructed knee and KOOS questionnaire respectively.

Result: Chi square table value for 1degree freedom at 0.05 was 3.84, hence the calculated Chi square values of proprioception knee in supine lying, proprioception knee in standing and single leg hop are less than table value of the accepted hypothesis which concludes that, there is no significant difference between the scores of selected outcome variables among reconstructed knee and normal knee subjects. The calculated paired‘t’ and ‘t’ table value with respect to the functional outcome of knee in operated and normal subjects was 6.53 and 2.66 respectively at 0.005 level.

Conclusion: There was no significant difference of Proprioception between the scores of selected outcome variables among reconstructed knee and normal knee in supine lying, standing and single leg hop. But it shows that there is significant difference of 2.66 at 0.005 level between reconstructed knee and normal knee groups with respect to the functional outcome of knee after two years of follow-up in ACL reconstructed knees.