Assistant Professor, Shree Swaminarayan Physiotherapy College, Kadodara Char Rasta, Surat, Gujarat
*Corresponding author: Alpa J Dhanani, Assistant Professor, Shree Swaminarayan Physiotherapy College, Kadodara Char Rasta, Surat, Gujarat Phone: 8866320545, E-mail: dr.alpajdhanani@yahoo.com
Online published on 19 June, 2015.
To compare the effectiveness of NMES Vs EMG biofeedback along with conventional physical therapy in the recovery of quadriceps femoris muscle strength and knee range of motion in the early phases of rehabilitation following ACL reconstruction.
A Quasi Experimental study.
In a 6-week intervention study, 30 patients following ACL reconstruction were studied. They were divided in two Groups by convenient sampling for Group A (n = 15) NMES along with conventional physical therapy was given; for Group B (n= 15) EMG biofeedback along with conventional physical therapy was applied. The treatment protocol consisted of 2 session/day/5 days/week for 6 weeks. Data was collected and analysed using SPSS16.0 by Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, Mann-Whitney-U test and T-test.
A significant improvement in the strength of quadriceps femoris muscle strength (p< 0.05), and increase in the active knee extension ROM (p <0.05) between pre & post treatment stages in both groups were found.
Using NMES along with conventional physical therapy and EMG biofeedback along with conventional physical therapy evidenced a significantly greater improvement in isometric quadriceps femoris muscle strength and active knee extension ROM in both the groups in early phases of rehabilitation following ACL reconstruction, with no statistically significant difference between the two experimental groups.
ACL Reconstruction, Quadriceps Strength, Knee ROM, NMES, EMG Biofeedback
