Current Concept Review: Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction: From Rehabilitation to Return to Sport.
Chao-Jung Hsu, Charlie Lee, Rachel S Christensen and 1 others
PMID 40620410WHAT IT FOUND
This review proposes a four-phase rehabilitation protocol for medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction.
It outlines specific milestones for range of motion, quadriceps strength, and hop tests to guide return to sport. No single component of the protocol was tested against another.
Key findings
01The proposed rehabilitation protocol consists of four phases: protection, strengthening, advanced strengthening and functional, and return to sport.
02Milestones for the return to sport phase include quadriceps strength and hop tests greater than 90% of the non-surgical side, and a Y-Balance Test composite score greater than 90%.
03Current literature lacks standardized return to sport criteria following MPFL reconstruction, unlike anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
This is a narrative review that proposes guidelines based on existing literature. It does not report original data from a clinical trial. The proposed rehabilitation protocol has not been tested for efficacy or safety against other protocols or a control group. The review notes that current return to sport criteria are not well established and that most studies use time-based criteria rather than objective functional tests. The recommendations for specific strength percentages and test scores are based on expert consensus and extrapolation from other knee surgeries, not on direct evidence from MPFL reconstruction trials.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the proposed phase-specific milestones and return to sport criteria as evidence-based standards. This is a narrative review that suggests guidelines for clinicians to follow, but these specific protocols and thresholds have not been validated in a clinical trial.