Table 1: Graded return to sport based on activity-based goals by days after the injury.
Day(s) |
Signs/Activity level |
Rehabilitation Principles |
0-10 |
- Daily activities limited by lateral knee pain (struggled to sit, squat, run, jump or change direction). |
- Did not seek medical attention. - Self-initiated stopping painful activities. |
10 |
- Mild improvement but ongoing activity-related lateral knee pain. - Moderate tenderness to the posterior fibular head and distal biceps femoris tendon. - Pain provoked on resisted prone knee flexion, particularly nearing terminal extension. |
- 2 weeks of off-loading the injured knee from impact and forceful hamstring contraction. - Abstained from jogging, running and ballistic activities. - Continued to work on general fitness and leg strength by means of un-cleated cycling, swimming and cross training. - Continued to participate in gym activities, mainly upper body, with avoidance of weighted lunges, weighted squats and weighted dead lifts. |
24 |
- Performing daily activities (e.g. walking) without any pain or discomfort. - Trivial tenderness to firm palpation of the distal biceps femoris tendon and fibular head. - Able to perform full passive and active range of motion on the injured knee without any pain. - Able to perform ballistic-style kicking, heavy resisted prone knee flexion with and without lateral compartment bias and varus stress testing without provoking pain. - Participated in half training, starting with graduated return to pain-free running from jogging. |
- As above, except allowed to jog and run as long as pain free. - The subject’s injured knee was taped to offload varus force for all training sessions. |
26 |
- Participated in full training including the contact component. |
- Full training as long as pain free. |
29 |
- Returned to playing AFLat a local club level for at least a half a game. |
- Full training as long as pain free. |