The effect of knee extensor open kinetic chain resistance training in the ACL-injured knee

This report has been verified by one or more authors of the original publication.

58 patients diagnosed with an anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACLI) were randomly assigned to one of three treatment regimens for the purpose of determining whether one protocol was advantageous over the others in terms of its ability to reduce anterior knee laxity. Patients received either standard rehabilitation alone or standard rehabilitation in addition to knee extensor open kinetic chain resistance training utilizing either high-load resistance or low-load resistance. The results found low-load resistance knee extensor open kinetic chain training to result in significantly reduced laxity scores at the 12-week assessment compared to both high-load and standard rehabilitation alone. All three regimens were found to significantly improve knee joint flexion range of motion from baseline to 12 weeks, while having no significant effect on IKDC scores, Lysholm scores, Tegner scores, Hughston scores, the SF-36 physical and mental summary scores, functional outcome, knee joint girth, and knee joint extension range of motion.