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Introduction Quadriceps lag, an inability to fully extend the knee actively, is a common issue following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) surgery, often leading to prolonged rehabilitation and suboptimal recovery. This pilot study aimed to assess the effectiveness of incorporating a real-time visual biofeedback device into rehabilitation programs to improve quadriceps lag in ACLR patients. Subjects and Methods In this non-randomised, controlled pilot trial, twelve participants (mean age = 31.3 ± 6.4 years; 7 males, 5 females) with quadriceps lag post-ACLR were assigned to an experimental group (n = 6) receiving biofeedback, and a control group (n = 6) undergoing standard rehabilitation. The experimental group performed 10 repetitions per set, 3 sets per session, daily for 2 weeks. The control group received range of motion and strengthening exercises. Quadriceps lag was assessed using a real-time biofeedback device on days 1 and 10. Statistical analysis included the Shapiro–Wilk test for normality, Levene’s test for homoscedasticity, Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks for within-group comparisons, and Mann–Whitney U for between-group comparisons (p SD = 2.8) to 1.83° (SD = 1.3); the control group decreased from 14.5° (SD = 1.3) to 6.0° (SD = 1.8). The improvement in the biofeedback group was significantly larger (p = 0.043), with large effect sizes (3.67 experimental, 3.19 control). Conclusions Real-time biofeedback significantly reduces quadriceps lag in ACLR patients. Further research with larger samples is needed. Integrating biofeedback into ACLR protocols could aid clinicians in monitoring and reducing quadriceps lag.
Kumari et al. (Thu,) studied this question.