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.