Brief summary, from the abstract
In patients with an acute posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury, a 16-week physiotherapy-led exercise program combined with a support brace led to clinically meaningful, lasting improvements in patient-reported knee function at five years, and few patients went on to need surgical reconstruction.
- Prospective case series of 50 patients with acute isolated or multiligament PCL injuries who completed a 16-week exercise program including 12 weeks in a PCL support brace; 36 returned subjective questionnaires at the five-year follow-up.
- Mean IKDC score rose from 35 points at baseline to 79 points at five years, and Tegner activity level rose from 2 to 5. All KOOS subscales improved significantly (baseline/five-year): Symptoms 52/87, Pain 56/88, Activities of daily living 58/90, Sport/Recreation 17/75, Quality of life 23/73.
- Seven of the 50 patients (14%) were eventually converted to surgical PCL reconstruction, at a median of 13 months (range 10-14); for isolated PCL injuries the conversion rate was 7%.
- Evidence is limited: this is a single prospective case series (level of evidence 3b) with no control group, and roughly a quarter of patients were lost before the five-year assessment.
Clinically assessing this area? See the knee special tests.