Rehabilitation Following ACL Repair with Internal Brace Ligament Augmentation in Female Gymnast: A Resident's Case Report.
Colten Haack, Giorgio Zeppieri, Micheal W Moser
PMID 38835983WHAT IT FOUND
A 16-year-old gymnast returned to competition six months after ACL repair with internal bracing and a multi-component staged physical therapy program.
Her knee function score rose from 60.92 to 96.6 on a 0 to 100 scale. One case cannot prove this works.
Key findings
01A 16-year-old female gymnast with a right ACL avulsion from the femoral attachment underwent ACL repair with internal bracing and received a multi-component rehabilitation program including twice-weekly physical therapy, home exercises, NMES, BFR, and coach-guided sport training; the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.
02She returned to gymnastics competition at six months post-operatively after meeting strength, hop, and patient-reported return-to-sport criteria.
03By discharge, her IKDC score was 96.6 on a 0 to 100 scale, her ACL-RSI score was 95, and her OSPRO-YF showed no yellow flags.
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
Only one athlete was described, so this cannot show that the treatment caused the result or that it works for others. The athlete was a high-level 16-year-old gymnast with a proximal ACL avulsion selected for repair, so results may not apply to other ages, sports, or ACL tear types. Surgery, clinic physical therapy, home exercises, electrical stimulation, blood flow restriction, and coach-guided training were given together, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. Follow-up after rehabilitation was short, and long-term outcomes were unknown. Vertical jump and gymnastics-specific drills were not assessed before return to sport, and horizontal hop tests may be passed using compensation strategies. The report notes variability in ACL repair rehabilitation protocols, so this is one example rather than a consensus guideline. The supplied text gives different ACL-RSI starting values, so the baseline psychological score is unclear.
Declared interests
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the six-month return to sport as proof that ACL repair with internal bracing or this rehabilitation plan works for other athletes. This was one selected 16-year-old gymnast, with no comparison group, and the authors state the design cannot determine cause and effect.