The Effects of 8-Weeks Selected Exercises on Muscle Torque and Proprioception of Knee in Athletes with Injured Meniscus: A Clinical Trial study

 Applying rehabilitative exercise instructions before surgery is fundamental to minimize surgery complications and rehabilitation period as well. The aim of this research was to study the effects of 8 weeks of selected exercises on knee muscle torque and proprioception among the athletes with injured meniscus.

 This was an applied research with quasi-experimental method. Subjects were 24 athletes with injured meniscus who were selected through convenience judgmental sampling. Based on the orthopedic surgeon’s decision and their availability, subjects were divided equally into two experimental and control groups. Subject’s muscle torque and proprioception of the injured knee was recorded at the beginning and after eight weeks of selective exercises. The intervention was performed one hour a day on daily basis. Repeated measures variance ANOVA, within the 0.05 level of significance, was used for inferential data analysis and the probable differences between group means.

 In both groups, maximum knee flexion and extension muscle torque and proprioception changed significantly (P < 0.001 for all three variables). Moreover, between groups differences were significant (P < 0.001).

In this study, positive effects of exercise on torque and proprioception of knee in athletes with injured meniscus were reported. It seems that applying proper exercises challenging functional system can be an effective means of progressing knee motor function preoperatively.