The effects of early aggressive rehabilitation on outcomes after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using autologous hamstring tendon: a randomized clinical trial.

Study Design: Prospective randomized clinical trial. Methods and Measures: Thirty-six patients who had a primary anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL-R) with a semitendinosus-gracilis (STG) autograft from a single orthopedic surgeon were prospectively randomized into 2 groups. Nineteen patients were randomized to the aggressive group (53% male, mean age 30.1 + 10.5 y) and 17 to the nonaggressive group (88% male, mean age 33.1 + 10.9 y). Impairment measures of anteroposterior (A-P) knee laxity, range of motion (ROM), and peak isometric force (PIF) values were obtained 12 wk postoperatively. Subjective response to the International Knee Documentation Committee knee form (IKDC) was collected 1, 12, and 24 wk postoperatively. One-way ANOVA was used to analyze differences between groups at 12 wk for A-P knee laxity, ROM, and PIF. Differences between the groups for the IKDC scores were determined using 1-way ANOVA with repeated measures 1, 12, and 24 wk postoperatively. Bonferroni adjustment was used ...