Recalibrating anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction rehabilitation: integrating mechanistic evidence, criterion-driven progression, and risk-informed return-to-sport decisions: a narrative review
Year: 2026
Type: review
Abstract: Background and Objective: Rehabilitation after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) remains variable, and persistent impairment and second-injury risk remain common. This narrative review asks four linked questions: how early impairments should be assessed and managed; how quadriceps recovery and loading should progress; which criteria should guide phase advancement; and how physical, psychological, neurocognitive, and contextual factors should be integrated into return-to-sport decisions. Methods: PubMed (including MEDLINE), selected guideline repositories, and reference lists were searched from database inception through September 2, 2026. Contemporary clinical practice guidelines, systematic reviews, randomized and controlled trials, cohort studies, consensus statements, and foundational mechanistic reports were prioritized. This was a targeted narrative synthesis, not a systematic review or meta-analysis. Key Content and Findings: Early decisions should integrate symptoms, effusion, motion, gait, quadriceps neuromuscular function, and the immediate and 24-hour response to loading. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and progressive resistance exercise have the clearest clinical roles; cryotherapy, surface electromyographic (sEMG) biofeedback, blood-flow restriction (BFR), and neurocognitive strategies are conditional adjuncts whose value depends on patient response and evidence limitations. Strength, task performance, movement strategy, patient-reported knee function, and psychological readiness should be assessed serially. Graft type and concomitant procedures modify loading tolerance and interpretation but do not justify universal graft-specific timelines. Return to sport (RTS) is a continuum from participation to sport to performance and requires stage-matched exposure and shared risk decisions. Conclusions: Criterion-driven ACLR rehabilitation is best understood as repeated decision-making within biological, procedural, and contextual constraints. Numerical thresholds can inform decisions, but they should not function as stand-alone clearance rules when evidence is heterogeneous or population specific.
Source: Annals of Joint
Language: English
Subfield: Surgery
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7224124072