Impact of knee range of motion on returning to sports after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in Athletes: a systematic review

Abstract

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries are the most common type of injury in athletes. In 2002, 70% of ACL injuries occurred while participating in sports such as handball, soccer, volleyball, and alpine skiing in Ireland. Surgical intervention is considered for more than half of these injuries. Additionally, return to play is the optimal aim of a rehabilitation program, which is determined by a variety of circumstances. The purpose of this systematic review is to examine the characteristics of knee range of motion in rehabilitation protocols/programs for athletes returning to sport following ACL reconstruction and ACL repair. As a result, a comprehensive search was done to identify relevant publications from various electronic databases using particular inclusion and exclusion criteria. The International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), a functional test battery, and range of motion analysis were used to collect outcome measures values. As a result, the final analysis included seven studies. According to the findings of this systematic research, the percentage of athletes returning to their initial sports is relatively low. Additionally, while the rehabilitation procedures for ACL replacement surgery are well known, the decision to return to play is mostly determined by the duration of the rehabilitation process and the period following the surgical procedure.