Dry Needling and Quad Strength After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Dry Needling.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Rehabilitation, Dry Needling, Strength. Basic parameters: 10 years — 20 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- United States
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
Effects of Dry Needling on Quadriceps Muscle Strength in Acute Post-Operative Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction With Quadriceps Autograft in the Pediatric Population
Overview
Dry needling is a skilled intervention provided by trained physical therapists to treat pain, myofascial dysfunction, and a variety of other diagnosis. While there is research demonstrating the benefits of dry needling in reduction of pain and improvement in strength, research in regards the pediatric population is very limited. A recent retrospective chart review regarding dry needling trends and outcomes in the pediatric orthopedic population showed the pediatric population is tolerating this treatment and seeing benefits. Physical therapists are already pushing the boundaries and finding additional benefits in the use of dry needling with current patients. A diagnosis frequently seen in sports medicine is surgical reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Over the last couple of years, therapists have seen an increase in the use of quadriceps tendon autograft for reconstruction following ACL tears due to lower incidence rate of retears. Patients have been struggling to regain strength of the quadriceps to meet desired outcomes. The quadricep muscles are one of the major stabilizers of the knee and with a reduction in strength places the patient at a significant increase of retear. Subjects will be categorized into an experimental group (dry needling intervention + physical therapy) or the control group (physical therapy only) with a N of 20 in each group. The goal for this research is to determine if dry needling use in the subacute phase of post-operative ACLR following quadriceps autograft can assist with increasing quad strength and improve post-surgical outcomes.
Interventions
- Procedure Dry Needling
Dry needling is defined as a skilled intervention that utilizes a thin filiform needle to stimulate underlying myofascial trigger points, muscular, and connective tissue in managing pain and movement dysfunction. For the Intervention Group, dry needling will be completed to the quadriceps as stated below. Two sessions of dry needling will be done once per week starting in week 6 and finishing by end of week 7. The patient will be laying in supine. Needles will be placed in the quadriceps muscle
Primary outcome measures
- Change in Quadriceps Muscle Strength [Time frame: Muscle strength measurements taken at post-operative week 6, 7, and 9.]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Status post subacute quadriceps autograft 6 weeks or less
- Ages 10-20 years
- English and/or Spanish speaking
Exclusion criteria
- History of surgery on the knee or hip on the testing lower extremity.
- Any surgical intervention to other ligamentous or meniscus structures during time of ACLR
- Any post-surgical complications such as infection
- Current pregnancy
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Allocation
- Non-randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Open label
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
Study locations
United States · 3 centers
- Children's Mercy Sports Medicine Center- Village West — Kansas City
- Children's Mercy - Blue Valley — Overland Park
- Children's Mercy Hospital- Kansas City — Kansas City
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07657195 · STUDY00003889