The prevalence of osteoarthritis on radiographs in the long term after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction is lower in patients who achieve and maintain normal knee motion, regardless of the status of the meniscus.
There were no significant differences in the incidence of infection or patellar tendon rupture between the ipsilateral and contralateral groups. Patients with complications after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with a patellar tendon autograft may have less difficulty obtaining full knee motion when the graft is harvested from the contralateral knee.
Limited ankle dorsiflexion passive range of motion (DF PROM) has been associated with lower extremity overuse injuries. Therefore, clinicians often prescribe stretching exercises to increase ankle DF PROM. However, there is limited evidence to indicate if any particular gastrocnemius stretching exercise results in greater improvement in DF PROM. The aim of this study was to determine if gastrocnemius stretching in non-weight bearing (NWB) or weight bearing (WB) results in a greater increase of ankle DF PROM. 28 healthy volunteers, aged 18-55 years, who exhibited less than 10 degrees of ankle DF PROM completed the study. Participants were randomized into 2 stretching groups: NWB and WB. Both groups completed a 3-week home gastrocnemius stretching program, consisting of 5 repetitions held for 30 s each, 2 times daily. Participants' ankle DF PROM was measured with a blinded standard goniometer in NWB and WB positions before and after participation in a 3-week home gastrocnemius stretching program. Two 3-way mixed model ANOVAs demonstrated no significant difference in ankle DF PROM between the NWB and WB groups for either the NWB measurement condition (p=0.49) or WB measurement condition (p=0.86). Gastrocnemius stretching exercises performed in NWB or WB were equally effective in increasing ankle DF PROM.
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