Electrical stimulation versus voluntary exercise in strengthening thigh musculature after anterior cruciate ligament surgery

Twenty patients who had undergone anterior cruciate ligament reconstructive surgery were placed randomly and independently in an Electrical Stimulation Group (n = 10) or Voluntary Exercise Group (n = 10) to compare the effectiveness of these two muscle-strengthening protocols. Patients in both groups used simultaneous contraction of quadriceps femoris and hamstring muscles during a training regimen that consisted of either voluntary exercise or electrical stimulation trials five days a week for a three-week period within the first six postoperative weeks. After patients completed the training regimen, bilateral maximal isometric measurements of gravity-corrected knee extension and flexion torque were obtained for both groups and percentages were calculated. Results showed that patients in the Electrical Stimulation Group finished the three-week training regimen with higher percentages of both extension and flexion torque when compared with patients in the Voluntary Exercise Group (extension: t = 4.35, p less than .05; flexion; t = 6.64, p less than .05). These results indicate that patients in an electrical stimulation regimen can achieve higher individual thigh musculature strength gains than patients in a voluntary exercise regimen when simultaneous contraction of thigh muscles is prescribed during an early phase of postoperative rehabilitation.