Open and closed kinetic chain exercises in the early period after anteriorcruciate ligament reconstruction - Improvements in level walking, stair ascent, and stair descent
Dm. Hooper et al., Open and closed kinetic chain exercises in the early period after anteriorcruciate ligament reconstruction - Improvements in level walking, stair ascent, and stair descent, AM J SP MED, 29(2), 2001, pp. 167-174
Thirty-seven patients who had undergone anterior cruciate ligament reconstr
uction were tested in a gait analysis laboratory at 2 and 6 weeks after sur
gery. Between test sessions, patients were randomly assigned to a course of
either closed or open kinetic chain resistance exercises (3 sessions per w
eek for 4 weeks). Gait analysis consisted of bilateral calculations of knee
joint angle, moment, and power during level walking, stair ascent, and sta
ir descent. An analysis of variance on the effects of training group and te
st session indicated that the only variable to be significantly affected by
the type of exercise program was the amount of knee flexion at the beginni
ng of step-up (P < 0.05). All other measures of knee angle, moment, and pow
er (16 total variables) showed no significant difference between the exerci
se groups. All variables measured on the injured side showed significant im
provement from test 1 to test 2 (P < 0.05), but the injured leg remained fu
nctionally deficient when compared with the uninjured leg. These data sugge
st that there are no clinically significant differences in the functional i
mprovement resulting from the choice of open or closed kinetic chain exerci
ses in the early period after this surgery.