Abstract
Background: Ligament reconstruction is the current standard of care for active patients with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture. Although the majority of ACL reconstruction (ACLR) surgeries successfully restore the mechanical stability of the injured knee, postsurgical outcomes remain widely varied. However functional outcomes after ACLR are poor, thus it is a necessary to investigate the out comes of different usage of walking aids in patients with ACLR.
Methods: Total 60 subjects of post ACLR with mean age of 32±5.2 were participated in the study. Subjects were divided into groups A, B and C for rehabilitation with single, double elbow crutches and walker respectively, along with conventional exercises for 6 weeks. After 4th week walking aids were discarded for all groups. Interventional outcomes were assessed by static, dynamic stability and knee functional score at 4th and 6th weeks for all three groups.
Results: All three groups showed improvement in static and dynamic stability at 4th and 6th weeks, however elbow crutch groups showed highly significant difference (p<0.001). Whereas lysholm score at 4th week was non-significant for all three groups p=0.54, although it had improved at 6th week p=0.02.
Conclusion: Study concluded that knee Stability (static and Dynamic) and lysholm functional knee score were improved in all walking aids groups along with conventional rehabilitation of post ACLR, however study outcomes were more significantly effective with single elbow crutch training than double and walker training groups.
Key words: ACL Repair, Lysholm Knee Score, Elbow Crutch, Knee Stability.