A novel home-based rehabilitative knee brace system is a viable option for postoperative rehabilitation after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a report of 15 cases

Purpose To investigate the functional outcomes for patients who used a novel home-based rehabilitative system during the postoperative period after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions. Methods Patients undergoing ACL reconstruction surgeries were prospectively enrolled. A home-based rehabilitation system, which is composed of a knee brace with a motion tracker, a mobile app, and a web portal, was applied. Patients could complete the rehabilitation exercise through the audio guidance and the real-time tracking system which displayed the achieved motions on the user interface of the app. Feedbacks from the patients, including the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) scores, were collected and uploaded to the web portal. Each patient would meet a specialized physical therapist face-to-face once a month. At postoperative 6 months, every patient received a GNRB arthrometer examination and a Cybex isokinetic dynamometer examination. Results A total of 15 patients (10 males and 5 females) were enrolled and followed for at least 6 months. The mean time of return to full knee extension was 1.5 months. The mean difference in laxity measured by GNRB arthrometer at 134 N significantly improved at postoperative 6 months (1.8 +/- 1.6 mm) compared to that measured preoperatively (3.4 +/- 1.9 mm) (p = 0.024). The peak torques of flexor and extensor muscles measured by Cybex isokinetic dynamometer remained unchanged at postoperative 6 months (p = 0.733 and 0.394, respectively). The patients' IKDC score became smaller at postoperative 1 month (p = 0.011) and significantly improved at postoperative 6 months (p = 0.002). Conclusion Using a home-based rehabilitative knee brace system after ACL reconstruction is a viable option as patients maintained their knee muscle strengths maintained their muscle strength and achieve similar or better knee range of motion six months postoperatively.