ACL reconstruction postoperative rehabilitation in China: a bibliometrics study and visualization analysis via CiteSpace.
Lindan Zhai, Zhiwei Mu, Zhen Wu and 1 others
Chinese ACL rehab research has grown over 20 years, with proprioception, early rehabilitation, and functional exercise as the persistent hotspots.
The field still lacks a unified standard for timing, intensity, or method, and early-rehab evidence remains thin.
Key findings
11,052 Chinese-language publications on ACL reconstruction rehabilitation were identified from CNKI and Wanfang databases (2005–2025), with annual output peaking at 119 in 2024.
2The dominant research themes are proprioception, early rehabilitation, and functional exercise. Since 2022 the focus has shifted toward quadriceps-specific training, balance function, and targeted early rehabilitation.
3No unified domestic standard exists for the timing, intensity, or method of post-ACL-rehabilitation, and the authors state that research on the specific methods and effects of early rehabilitation is insufficient.
Still to come
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only Chinese-language publications from two databases were included; the entire English-language literature on ACL rehabilitation is absent. This is a bibliometric map of what has been published, not a synthesis of patient outcomes. No treatment effect, no comparison, no patient-level data appears anywhere in the paper. The search was title-only, which may miss relevant publications that use different terminology in the abstract or body. 2025 data is partial (through 28 July 2025), so the most recent year is incomplete. Author and institution cooperation networks are very sparse, indicating the field is fragmented across many small groups with little cross-institution collaboration.
Declared interests
Funded by the Basic Research Project of Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau (No. 2023A03J0608). No other conflicts of interest declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the keyword hotspots (proprioception, early rehabilitation, functional exercise) as evidence that those interventions are proven effective. This paper counts and clusters publications; it contains no patient outcomes, no treatment comparisons, and no efficacy data. A PT who takes 'proprioception is a research hotspot' as 'proprioception training works' is reading a map of the literature as a map of the evidence.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →