Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Reconstruction Surgery - All You Need To Know

NUH physiotherapist gives a rundown about ACL reconstruction surgery, including pre-rehabilitation, activities to avoid after surgery and the downtime before the return to the sports, etc.

If you have torn your anterior cruciate ligament or ACL, you will be referred for pre-rehabilitation sessions before your surgery where you will work with your physiotherapist to improve your knee’s range of motion and strengthen your leg muscles. You will learn to walk with and without crutches.

For the first three to four weeks after your surgery, you should avoid doing:

Prolonged standing and walking
Forceful knee bending
Pivoting action

For the first three months, avoid jogging or running. You may start slow jogging short distances three months after your surgery, provided that you do not experience any pain when you jog and that you have good leg muscle strength.

For the first four to six months, avoid doing deep squats.

Usually about nine months after the surgery and after clearing the physiotherapy objective reviews that include isokinetic assessment and functional hop test, you can safely return to participate in contact sports, such as football, basketball.

NUH runs an Orthopaedic Diagnostic Centre which assesses patients, especially those who are athletes and active in sports, after their knee surgeries to track their recovery process and milestones until they can return to the sports they were previously doing. At each stage of the recovery process, the team will plan for the patients to undergo certain diagnostic assessments and based on their performances, the team will propose the most appropriate care plans for them.

https://www.nuh.com.sg/Health-Informa...

00:00 - Introduction
00:23 - Pre-rehabilitation session
00:40 - Leg press, stationary bicycle, hamstring curl
00:52 - Single leg standing balance (with and without balance pad)
01:02 - Walking after surgery
01:21 - Return to work
01:51 - Activities to avoid post-surgery
02:17 - Return to driving
02:38 - Return to sports
02:54 - Return to running & contact sports
03:25 - About NUH Orthopaedic Diagnostic Centre
03:57 - Life after surgery
04:14 - Chances of ACL re-tearing post-surgery

For an appointment with NUH, visit
https://www.nuh.com.sg/patients-visit...

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About National University Hospital (NUH) (Singapore):
NUH is Singapore's major tertiary hospital and referral centre with over 50 medical, surgical and dental specialties. It is the only public hospital in Singapore to offer a comprehensive suite of specialist care for adults, women and children as well as paediatric kidney and liver transplant programme, in addition to kidney, liver and pancreas transplantations for adults.