Effects of acceleration training 24 weeks after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction on proprioceptive and dynamic balancing functions

[Purpose] The present study aimed to investigate whether the effects of rehabilitation exercise performed after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction on proprioceptive sensory and dynamic balancing functions differ between males and females. [Subjects and Methods] Eighteen subjects aged between 20–30 years enrolled in this study. The ages did not significantly differ between the males and females. The rehabilitation exercise program was performed three times per week for 12 weeks (3 months), and was initiated immediately after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Thereafter, the patients visited the hospital once per week to perform rehabilitation exercise during weeks 12–24 (3–6 months), and education on self-exercise and assessments were conducted during the visits. Self-exercise was performed two times per week according to the determined program. [Results] The extension active joint position sense, extension passive joint position sense, and flexion passive joint position sense of the affected and unaffected knees did not show any interaction effects between the measurement periods or between the groups. In the case of the affected knee, the results of two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance showed no significant difference between the measurement periods or between the groups; moreover, no, interaction effects were observed between the measurement periods or between the groups. In the case of the unaffected knee, although no significant difference was observed between the measurement periods, significant differences were observed between the groups. [Conclusion] In conclusion, this study revealed that most knee rehabilitation exercise training programs can be applied to both genders during the recovery period after ACL reconstruction, except for the knee rotational feedback/feedforward function exercise that may exhibit different effects based on the gender.