ACL Rehab & Return to Sport Criteria
This blog entry is based on an assignment on ACL return to
sport criteria from my Masters course last year (thanks must go to my peers,
especially Kylie Baldwin and Jennifer Callaghan) as well as information from
APA Sports Physiotherapist Randall Cooper and his recent presentation on ACL
Rehab Criteria.
Randall presented a 5 stage criteria driven rehab protocol
including the Melbourne Sports Score to assist in progressing rehab following
ACL reconstruction and knowing when a patient is safe and ready to return to
sport. I’ll discuss each stage briefly
with my opinions and variations, but you can find the full documents describing
each stage on Randall’s blog here: www.swollenknee.me
Thanks again to Randall for being so generous with sharing this information.
I’d love to hear any variations or additional criteria that
you use, or recommend using.
Stage 1: Immediate Post Op – Recovery from Surgery
Aims
|
Treatment Options
|
Criteria to Exit Stage 1
|
Reduce pain
|
Ice
|
Full PROM Knee Extension
|
Reduce swelling
|
Elevation
|
PROM Knee Flexion 100deg
|
Safe mobilisation
|
Pain relief
|
Zero to mild amount of swelling
|
|
Adequate rest
|
Quads lag 0-5deg
|
|
Braces, crutches as needed
|
|
Goals of this first stage are to regain knee extension,
settle the swelling and activate the quads.
Stage 2: Strength and Neuromuscular Control
Aims
|
Rehab
|
Criteria to Exit Stage 2
|
Regain single leg balance
|
Massage
|
Full PROM Knee Extension
|
Regain muscle strength
|
Joint mobilisations
|
125deg+ PROM Knee Flexion
|
Good single leg squat technique and LL alignment
|
Quads (contracted with hamstrings) strengthening – IRQ, mini squats,
squats, mini lunges, lunges, leg press double, leg press single
|
No swelling or effusion
|
|
Hamstring Strengthening – bridging, deadlifts, prone or seated
hamstring curls, hamstring flicks
|
5 single leg squats with ‘good’ alignment based on Crossley et al
2011
|
|
Calf Strengthening – calf raises
|
No. single leg bridges >85% of other leg
|
|
Abdominal/Core strengthening – plank, side plank, bridge and leg
lift, leg lifts, leg slides/extensions, crunches
|
No. single leg calf raises >85% of other leg
|
|
Ice/elevation as needed – mostly after exercise sessions
|
Timed side bridge/plank >85% of other side
|
|
Cross training UL
|
1RM single leg press = 1.5xbody weight
|
|
Ex bike, rowing for cardio
|
Single leg balance eyes open=43sec, eyes closed=9sec
|
So here’s where we start to debate the numbers. Are 5 single leg squats enough to prove you
have sufficient neuromuscular control to move to Stage 3? If your athlete is returning to a running
sport, then they will eventually need to squat/hop/jump a lot more than 5
times. Crossley’s test is also based on
patellofemoral pain, so we need to decide whether this can be extrapolated to
the ACLR population – time for another RCT.
Another question is whether 1.5x body weight is too much (or too little)
as a Strength measure in Stage 2. We
also need to remember when comparing % of one leg to another that the so called
‘good’ leg may have previously been injured and thus the comparison is not
entirely valid.
Stage 3: Running, Agility and Landing
Aim
|
Rehab
|
Criteria to Exit Stage 3
|
‘excellent’ score on jump-rebound task
|
Shuttle runs
|
Single Leg Hop test >90% of other leg
|
Progressive agility training
|
Ladder drills
|
Triple Cross Over Hop Test >90% of other leg
|
Regain full Strength and Balance
|
Slalom running/cutting drills
|
Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) “Excellent” Score
|
|
Jumping – double leg, floor, box, perturbations
|
1RM Single leg press 1.8x body weight
|
|
Hopping – single leg, floor, box, change of direction
|
Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) >95% of other leg in Anterior,
Posterolateral and Posteromedial directions
|
The patient must have met the criteria of Stage 1 and 2
before entering this Stage of rehab. I
can’t justify starting a patient on a return to running program if they only do
5 single leg squats. My general outcome
measures for returning to running are 30 single leg squats, 30 single leg calf
raises and 30 single leg bridges as a minimum.
I’d be interested to hear what your criteria are!?
Before testing the exit criteria for Stage 3, it is also
recommended that the patient have no side to side difference in the single leg
bridge test, single leg calf raise test and side bridge endurance test, while
maintaining FROM in the knee, no swelling and ‘good’ single leg squats.
Stage 4:Return to Sport
Aim
|
Rehab
|
Criteria to Return to Sport
(Melbourne Sports Score)
|
Score >95 on Melbourne RTS Score
|
Sports Specific Drills/Skills
Strength and Conditioning Program
|
Physical Examination (/25)
Effusion
Stability/Laxity
Flexion ROM
Extension ROM
|
Athlete is confident, comfortable and eager to RTS
|
Plyometrics
|
Functional Tests (/50)
SEBT
Single Hop for distance
Triple Hop
Jump/Land ability – modified LESS score
SL Squats
|
A continued ACL injury prevention program is discussed and
implemented.
|
PEP or FIFA 11 prevention program (stage 5)
|
IKDC/Subjective Qs (/25)
|
Should we be including more tests?
Are these criteria enough to justify safe RTS? Pilot data
suggests that a score of 95/100 indicates a greater chance of returning to
pre-injury sports. Further research is
also needed to see whether these athletes (scoring >95/100) also have a
lower re-injury rate.
Stage 5: Prevention
There are a number of preventative programs already
available, including FIFA 11 and PEP program.
You can find these online easily.
Conservative Management
Apart from the acute post op management, conservatively
management ACL injuries should follow a similar set of rehab and return to
sport criteria.