In Fact can give a false sense of recovery when there are other simulation, proprioceptive and sports specific drills that can tell a lot more about deficits and return to activities and sports alone. Eight of 11 patients who suffered a sec- ond ACL injury passed 90% LSI return- to-sport criteria for quadriceps strength and single-leg hop tests 6 months after ACLR. A 90% cut- off was operationally defined as achieving EPIC levels for quadriceps strength and hop scores. Twenty-four (34.3%) patients who achieved 90% LSIs for all measures 6 months after ACLR did not achieve 90% EPIC levels for all measures. However, preinjury test- ing requires extensive resources and time commitments, making widespread imple- mentation in high school, college, and rec- reational settings unrealistic. This study was approved by the University of Delaware Institutional Review Board. Few studies have examined alternative measurements to LSIs to compare the function and performance of the involved limb after ACLR. With recurrent ACL tears, come worse functional and also radiological outcomes .1 Furthermore, with recurrent ACL tears and subsequent ACLR revisions, there is evidence that those with recurrent tears have a higher incidence of tibial and femoral chondral defects, and, therefore, even higher increased risk for knee arthritis later in life than those with just a one-time ACL tear.4 Moreover, one can assume that with a higher incidences of knee arthritis, there will be an increased likelihood for a potential need for knee arthroplasty later in life. 336 | may 2017 | volume 47 | number 5 | journal of orthopaedic & sports physical therapy, Quadriceps Strength and Single-Leg Hop Asymmetry Values When LSIs or EPIC Levels Were Less Than 90% for Each Measure, Quadriceps strength 16 Single hop 18 Crossover hop 12 Triple hop 8 6-meter timed hop 9, 83.6 3.2 81.1 6.2 83.6 4.3 84.9 3.3 83.5 4.5, Quadriceps strength Single hop Crossover hop Triple hop, n Mean SD, % 26 78.8 8.3 18 75.4 17.6 18 83.3 5.4 12 81.7 5.9 18 80.8 6.5, Patients With Second ACL Injuries and LSIs and EPIC Values, ACLR to Second With recurrent ACL tears, come worse functional and also radiological outcomes, Furthermore, with recurrent ACL tears and subsequent ACLR revisions, there is evidence that those with recurrent tears have a higher incidence of tibial and femoral chondral defects, and, therefore, even higher increased risk for knee arthritis later in life than those with just a one-time ACL tear. Clin Biomech; 22:543-550. Reid et al 2007repeated hop testing on 4 separate time points after ACL reconstruction(16 weeks, a couple times more that week, and at 24 weeks post op) and found good longitudinal and concurrent validity for the four hop tests. However, consider this interesting fact from their research: At 24 weeks post-op ACL reconstruction, the average overall Limb Symmetry Index was 88.5% and the average Lower Extremity Functional Scale score was 69.3. There are many factors that will lend better to determine that time frame. Epidemiology of recurrent anterior cruciate ligament injuries in national collegiate athletic association sports: the injury surveillance program, 2004-2014. Only 20 (28.6%) patients met 90% EPIC levels (comparing the in- volved limb at 6 months after ACLR to the uninvolved limb before ACLR) for quad- riceps strength and all hop tests. Now that Ive stated why I find recurrent ACL tears so concerning, it reinforces why a study like the one above is so important. Please enter your username or email address. After follow-up, 11 patients (16% of original patients) had sustained a subsequent ACL injury. Given our current re-injury rate, I suggest hop testing LSI should at least be above 95% and recommend it to be above 97%-100%. Many RTS criteria are based on whether the involved limb is symmetrical (or nearly so) to the uninvolved limb throughout certain testing protocols. It is possible that athletes who attained 90% LSIs but not 90% EPIC levels 6 months after ACLR had re- maining bilateral functional deficits that were unresolved after return-to-sport ac- tivities were resumed. reconstruction (ACLR). Patient ACL Injury, wk LSIs 90% EPIC 90% Side of Injury, Contralateral Contralateral Ipsilateral Ipsilateral Contralateral Ipsilateral Ipsilateral Contralateral Ipsilateral Ipsilateral Ipsilateral, 28 Yes Yes 250 Yes No 78 Yes No 252 Yes No 27 Yes No 60 Yes No 114 Yes No 108 No No No No No No. The current findings provide grounds for discussion regarding the validity of limb, journal of orthopaedic & sports physical therapy | volume 47 | number 5 | may 2017 | 337. symmetry and current return-to-sport cri- teria after ACL injury. Second ACL injuries were tracked for a minimum follow-up of 2 years after ACLR. Address correspondence to Dr Elizabeth Wellsandt, Division of Physical Therapy Education, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 984420 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-4420. Twenty- four (34.3%) patients who achieved 90% LSIs for all measures 6 months after ACLR did not achieve 90% EPIC levels for all measures. ACL Injury prevention in female athletes: review of the literature and practical considerations in implementing an ACL prevention program. Bone Joint J. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Forty (57.1%) patients achieved 90% LSIs for quadriceps strength and all sin- gle-leg hop tests. We have worked with athletes for a combined 30 years. Of 70 patients, 40 met University of Delaware return-to-sport criteria of at least 90% symmetry in quadriceps strength and 4 single-leg hop tests 6 months after ACLR, but only 16 of these 40 patients achieved 90% EPIC levels when comparing the in- volved limb at 6 months to uninvolved- limb function prior to ACLR. [2] Gans, I., Retzky, J. S., Jones, L. C., & Tanaka, M. J. Correlational analyses were used to test whether time from ACL injury to initial uninvolved- limb testing (before ACLR) influenced EPIC levels. Abbreviations: ACL, anterior cruciate ligament; ACLR, anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction; EPIC, estimated preinjury capacity; LSI, limb symmetry index. function at 6 months to uninvolved-limb scores prior to ACLR (FIGURE). Based on these results, the researchers advocate that the return to sport LSI criteria be increased to 90%. Downloaded from www.jospt.org at on August 6, 2021. Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic & Related Surgery. The above tests are reliable and modifiable (Munro & Herrington 2011,Reid et al 2007). Patients contin- ued rehabilitation prior to ACLR until initial impairments were resolved (effu- sion, range of motion, pain, gait impair- ments, quadriceps strength)12 and hop testing could be safely completed (sec- ond testing session). [1] Ahmed I, Salmon L, Roe J, Pinczewski L. (2017) The long-term clinical and radiological outcomes in patients who suffer recurrent injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament after reconstruction. athletes ligament cruciate cutoffs acl objective Criteria for Discharge and/or Return to Sport: To me, the MOST important question is What should the return to sport and/or discharge criteria be for hop testing?. Patients underwent progressive, cri- terion-based postoperative rehabilita- tion early after ACLR1 and then repeated, quadriceps strength and single-leg hop testing 6 months after ACLR (testing 3), with LSIs calculated (see FIGURE). The use of 90% EPIC levels was superior to 90% LSIs in predicting second ACL injuries (LSIs: sensitivity, 0.273; 95% CI: 0.010, 0.566; specificity, 0.542; 95% CI: 0.417, 0.663; positive LR = 0.596; 95% CI: 0.218, 1.627; negative LR = 1.341; 95% CI: 0.871, 2.064 and EPIC: sensitivity, 0.818; 95% CI: 0.523, 0.949; specificity, 0.305; 95% CI: 0.203, 0.432; positive LR = 1.177; 95% CI: 0.850, 1.631; negative LR = 0.596; 95% CI: 0.161, 2.212). All rights reserved. Do you think we should use 90% for return to sport and 97-100% for discharge? Pre- injury functional data would eliminate the limitation of EPIC measurements, which require preoperative testing of the uninvolved limb. Background: The reoccurrence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries after return to sport (RTS) poses a high-risk for athletes and the evaluation of whether an athlete is ready to RTS is a clinical decision that is often debated among many physical therapists. All second injuries were confirmed by a licensed physician or physical therapist. Prospective preseason functional testing of athletes is the ideal criterion to provide patient-specific re- habilitation milestones after injury. Research has shown that current ACL re-rupture rates after RTS are around 1-, . For More information, Please feel free to contact ushttp://coreomaha.com/contact/, Please feel free to follow us athttps://www.facebook.com/COREomaha/, To get startedhttp://coreomaha.com/getting-started/, For more Blog informationhttp://coreomaha.com/blog/, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVg8OSN5h-i1n_ykw1Gvahg?view_as=subscriber, Limb Symmetry Indexes Can Overestimate Knee Function After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury, Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury frequently results in muscle weakness, poor knee function, and increased risk for second injury, despite surgical anterior cruciate ligament, 2,8,15,17-20 Thus, 70 patients (mean SD age, 26.6 10.0 years; 32.9% women; body mass index, 24.9 3.8 kg/m2) were used in the current analysis. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. While the uninvolved limb is widely used as a healthy control, bilateral muscle strength deficits have been demonstrated after ACL injury,11,16,20 challenging the validity of symmetry mea- sures in objective return-to-sport criteria. Anterior cruciate liga- ment reconstruction occurred at a mean SD of 4.4 4.0 months after injury (28 hamstring gracilis autografts, 42 soft tis- sue allografts). Determination of the most valid and reasonable reference against which to compare the function of the involved limb must be included. Many RTS criteria are based on whether the involved limb is symmetrical (or nearly so) to the uninvolved limb throughout certain testing protocols. If I have 95% LSI should I got back to sports? The benefit of including preoperative rehabilitation in postoperative outcomes after ACL in- jury is clear,7 and this period presents an opportunity for objective measurement of baseline uninvolved-limb function to later compare the involved limb during return-to-sport testing. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy Abbreviations: EPIC, estimated preinjury capacity; LSI, limb symmetry index. Another thought mentioned in the article would be to establish age, sex, and sports matched norms that the individuals involved limb could be compared to, but with the extremely large number of factors to consider, these norms are not widely developed yet. In other words, the uninvolved limb at the time of the testing is essentially used as the goal for RTS. Patients completed 2 testing ses- sions before ACLR (testing 1, quadriceps strength testing initially after ACL injury; and testing 2, single-leg hop testing fol- lowing initial impairment resolution af- ter ACL injury) and 1 testing session after ACLR (testing 3, quadriceps strength testing and single-leg hop testing 6 months after ACLR) (FIGURE). Copyright : All Rights Reserved by IAOM-US 2020. Other limitations include a small sample size, the low occurrence of second ACL injuries, and cohort attrition (including patients tested on different dy- namometers). Beyond the fact that a recurrent ACL tear is physically, mentally, and financially draining, as a future PT, I have concerns for these patients health much later down the road. Overall second ACL injury rates, reaching upward of 49%3 suggest inadequacy in current criteria used to. This study was approved by the University of Delaware Institutional Review Board, and all patients provided written informed consent. Do you think we can achieve this in rehabilitation? So, why should recurrent ACL tears be concerning for PTs? Luckily, I have not suffered a recurrent ACL injury myself; however, I have witnessed many fellow athletes, as well as many professional athletes, suffer another ACL tear shortly after their seemingly dedicated ACL rehab regimens. Preliminary evidence is presented to demonstrate po- tential benefits of using uninvolved-limb function prior to, instead of after, ACLR to determine return-to-sport readiness. I have not seen any studies demonstrating the injury prediction value of these hop tests (if you do know of such studies, please let me know) but they do have decent discriminant validity. at 6 months to uninvolved-limb measures before ACLR. Objective return-to-sport criteria often utilize measures of quadriceps strength and single-leg hop tests, with limb-to-limb differences typically ex- pressed as limb symmetry indexes (LSIs).3 Limb symmetry indexes use concurrent measures of the uninvolved limb as a ref- erence standard. Regardless, I think that through more strict and less time or subjective based RTC criteria, in addition to ACLR rehab programs that include an extensive focus on muscle strengthening, refinement of landing and deceleration biomechanical patterns, improving balance and proprioception, and plyometrics, I truly believe we can improve our outcomes and reduce tear reoccurrence for ACLR patients [5].
The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons reports over 680,000 total knee arthroplastys (TKAs) done in 2014 (likely even more annually now) and at an average cost of between $35,000-$50,000, TKAs are costing the U.S. and our citizens billions of dollars annually. EPIC levels were calculated by comparing the involved-limb function at 6 months to the uninvolved-limb scores prior to ACL reconstruction and, similarly, a 90% cutoff for RTS was used for EPIC level measurements as well. These cookies do not store any personal information. In my experience as an SPT, I have not had the pleasure to see many of my patients prior to surgery, so, while using EPIC levels may be shown in this study to be a better frame of reference, it may not always be realistic to assume well see many of these ACLR patients before surgery. Only 20 (28.6%) patients met 90% EPIC levels (comparing the involved limb at 6 months after ACLR to the uninvolved limb before ACLR) for quadriceps strength and all hop tests. The current findings raise concern about whether the variable return-to-sport criteria utilized in current clinical practice after ACL injury are stringent enough to achite, 17660 Wright St., Suite 9 & 10, Omaha, NE 68130, C.O.R.E. However, the current study does highlight the need for rigorous test- ing of objective return-to-sport criteria to establish best practice for safe clearance to return to sport and to improve rates of second ACL injury. There was then a minimum 2-year follow with the patients on whether they had sustained a subsequent ACL injury. No other uses without permission. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. unilateral ACL injury were secondarily analyzed within a completed random- ized controlled trial and an ongoing pro- spective clinical trial.6,9 Exclusion criteria included a repairable meniscus, symp- tomatic grade III injury to other knee ligaments, greater than 1-cm2 full-thick- ness articular cartilage lesion, or prior ACL injury. The product of measuring the differences between limbs is called a limb symmetry index. At CORE Physical Therapy in Omaha, We specialize in the treatment of athletes. It depends. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratios (LRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the abil- ity of LSIs and EPIC levels to determine second ACL injury risk.10 Statistical sig- nificance was set at .05. [5] Voskanian, N. (2013). aclr [5] Voskanian, N. (2013). RTS criteria based on LSIs used a 90% (85-90% being a common cutoff in other RTS criteria) or greater cutoff for all the measured tests, as well as at least 90% on the Knee Outcome Survey Activities of Daily Living Scales and on a global rating score of knee function. It is highly valuable to us and to our patients to find the most accurate ways we can to determine whether they are truly ready to RTS. Timeline for testing and rehabilitation after ACL injury and equations used for calculation of LSIs and EPIC levels. It means the limb symmetry index is not unimportant, but it is not a full indicator of return to sports criteria. doi: 10.1007/s12178-013-9158-y. But, lets look at the research. Knowing this highly prevalent reoccurrence rate, I couldnt help but ponder what responsibility must the profession of physical therapy take in all this or whether it is just some biomechanical anomaly that cannot be accounted for? Quadriceps strength was tested bilaterally in 90 of knee flexion by recording maximal vol- untary isometric contractions using the burst superimposition technique to en- sure normal quadriceps activation12 dur- ing the initial physical therapy evaluation acutely after ACL injury. Remember, previous injury is the most consistently reported risk factor for future injury and we are currently discharging individuals with modifiable risk factors. Preliminary evidence suggests that the inability to restore knee function exhibited prior to ACLR may increase risk for second ACL injuries. Primary versus revision anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: patient demographics, radiographic findings, and associated lesions. (2018). Moreover, one can assume that with a higher incidences of knee arthritis, there will be an increased likelihood for a potential need for knee arthroplasty later in life. in quadriceps strength and single-leg hop tests after ACLR does not guarantee that prior functional levels (per the uninvolved limb before ACLR) have been met. Account Faculty Portal Membership 866-426-6101 | info@iaom-us.com, Wellsandt E, Failla MJ, Snyder-Mackler L. (2017)Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy;47(5): 334338, Abstracted by Adam Schwent SPT, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO. [4] Mitchell, J. J., Cinque, M. E., Dornan, G. J., Matheny, L. M., Dean, C. S., Kruckeberg, B., Laprade, R. F. (2018). Basically, unless you use timing gates, your stopwatch trigger finger error is pretty close to any right/left asymmetries you would find (except in the cases of severe asymmetry which the other hop tests would pick up)Triple hopTriple crossover hop. Regardless, there are ways to improve our outcomes with our patients and it is our professional duty to bring our minds together to collectively establish better standardized criteria for RTS for post-ACLR patients. doi: 10.1007/s12178-013-9158-y. tUOBJECTIVES: To evaluate the uninvolved limb as a reference standard for LSIs utilized in return- to-sport testing and its relationship with second ACL injury rates.