Improving the quality of rehabilitation following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery, in an outpatient physiotherapy department

Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is a type of orthopaedic knee surgery and physiotherapy rehabilitation is undertaken for several months postoperatively, often with the aim of returning the patient to sport. Variations in postoperative protocols to guide rehabilitation exist between National Health Service (NHS) Trusts. Although there is no single guideline to guide clinicians, strong evidence does support several clinical measures to be included post-ACLR, to improve outcomes and reduce the need for revision surgery. This project aimed to align our NHS Trust’s ACLR physiotherapy care with best-evidence. A literature review was completed to establish key quality standards for ACLR rehabilitation. A retrospective notes audit was then undertaken to quantify the baseline quality of care, measured against these standards. Quality improvement methods were used to improve the quality of care and postoperative rehabilitation processes for ACLR patients. A new evidence-based, postoperative rehabilitation protocol was created, a core group of clinicians was formed to see ACLR patients and a rehabilitation class, solely for ACLR patients was also implemented. The key process measure for the project was patients engaging in ‘criteria-driven progressions of rehabilitation’. This ‘criteria-driven progressions’ rate increased from 0% at baseline to 100% during the project period. Overall, non-attendance rates maintained at a similar level from 5.4% at baseline to a final rate of 4.8%. There was also an increase in mean ‘return to sport’ times, from 6 to 9.9 months, which is in line with best-evidence recommendations. The previous rehabilitation provided in our trust was not aligned with current evidence. This quality improvement project has led to improvements in patient care and lessons from the project will allow other trusts to learn from the changes made, to improve their own care pathways.