Functional proprioceptive stimulation promotes early rehabilitation following ACL reconstruction: a randomized controlled trial.

Only 24 people were studied in one clinic, and the authors say the study may be too small to detect smaller effects on pain, milestone achievement or painkiller use. No sham vibration was used, so expectation, attention, novelty and placebo effects cannot be ruled out. Participants and treating physiotherapists knew the allocation because the vibration is perceptible; only the assessor was blinded, and no check was made that this blinding held. Muscle strength, quadriceps activation, proprioception, swelling and neurophysiological measures were not collected, so it is not known whether the extra range came with better muscle function or why it occurred. Painkiller use was recorded only as used or not used each day, with no dose, timing or drug name, so the 66.0% versus 87.7% of days cannot be read as less medication overall or as better analgesia. Screening logs were not kept, so the number assessed for eligibility and the number excluded or declining is unknown. Follow-up ends at two weeks, so nothing is known about later function or return to sport. All participants were walking and had an isolated ACL reconstruction with no other major problems, so this says nothing about people with more complex injuries or other graft types.

The authors declared that they received no financial support for this work or for its publication.

Do not read the lower painkiller use in the vibration group (66.0% versus 87.7% of recorded days) as evidence that vibration controls pain better. Pain intensity itself did not differ between the groups at any time point, and medication was recorded only as used or not used each day, with no dose or drug information, so the authors call this a descriptive finding whose clinical meaning is uncertain.