Comparison of Quadriceps Muscle Girth Using Ultrasound Imaging In Supervised vs Unsupervised Post Operative ACL Reconstruction

Abstract

Injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the most common knee ligament injuries. The ACL injury is a sprain or tear of the anterior ligament (ACL). Effective exercises will reduce the risk of ACL injury. An ACL injury in athletes is a higher incidence than other general public, such as soccer, basketball, hockey, etc. The aim of this studywas to compare the effectiveness, recovery rate and variance in both knee-affected and non-affected muscle girth readings in supervised v/s unsupervised patient groups after the patient underwent ACL reconstruction surgery. The participants were divided into two groups(A-Supervised and B-Unsupervised) through a random sampling. The supervised exercise in group A performed according to the WILK protocol at RML hospital and un-superviseed group B performed the same WILK protocol at home. The ultrasound scans were performed after 2-4 weeks and 12-14 weeks post operation to measure the muscle girth in both the groups. The study findings indicated the significant difference in recovery rate as well as the difference in between supervisedv/s unsupervised groups i.e. the difference of affected and unaffected knees based on ultrasound imaging was higher in un-supervised group compared to supervised group (a difference of 2.3 mm in post-operation muscle girth after 12-14 weeks). The ultrasound reading of the muscle girth after 2-4 weeks post-operation showed a decline in the recovery of the muscle girth in both the groups (9% and 8% for supervised and un-supervised groups respectively). This reduction in the muscle girth value as compared to the pre-operative values was due to arthroscopic effect, which showed there was a transient deactivation of the muscle take place due to surgery. The ultrasound reading of the muscle girth after 12-14 weeks post-operation showed a different progressive recovery of the muscle girth in both the groups as 31% and 10% for supervised and un-supervised groups respectively .We concluded that supervised exercises was better than unsupervised exercises for the early recovery after ACL recontraction.