A Comparison Between Open Kinetic and Closed Kinetic Chain Exercises Along with Conservative Treatment in Grade-I ACL Injury in Sprinters: A Randomized Controlled Trail

Background:Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury is most common in sports players such as soccer, basketball, sprinters, which causes alleviated strength in quadriceps muscles, and Range of Motion (ROM) of Knee Joint, and along with this, decrease in efficiency of knee that impacts person’s Activity of daily living (ADL). So, after ACL injury, Rehabilitation protocol plays a great role in maintaining knee ROM, increases the strength of quadriceps muscles. This study aims to compare the effect of open kinetic chain exercises and closed kinetic chain exercises and compare to asses which type of protocol is much efficient for ACL-Injury rehab protocol. Methodology: A comparative study was done over 50 male sprinters of 18-25 years old to assess the effect of Open Kinetic chain exercises (OKC) and closed kinetic chain exercises (CKC). Study was divided into 2 groups: OKC group and CKC group. In OKC Group, subject has to do flexor-extensor bench, isotonic quadriceps exercise and long leg press-off exercises with the conventional physiotherapy whereas in CKC group, subjects has to do wall sits exercises, standing weight shift, one-legged dips exercise, and squatting lunges along with the conventional physiotherapy. Each exercise was performed with 3 sets of 20 repetition, 3 days/week for 45 days. The data was collected from various academies of Satara, Maharashtra after obtaining the ethical permission. Subjects were explained about the procedure and protocol of research. ROM, Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) and Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) scale were used as Outcome measures. Readings were noted on Day 0 and Day 45. The data was analyzed by using JASP Software.     Results: 25 subjects were there in both groups, with the mean age of 23.4 years in CKC group whereas the mean age is 23.44 in OKC group. The mean value of NPRS in OKC group is 4.280±0.843 and that of CKC groups is 4.160±0.624. And the mean value of Knee ROM in CKC group is 118±5 while that of in OKC group is 107.2±4.52. Conclusion: In summary, this study highlights the importance of a tailored rehabilitation program combining OKC and CKC exercises for Grade-I ACL injuries in sprinters. Both exercise types play a crucial role in restoring knee function and strength. As per our study, CKC exercises are better than OKC exercises. So, CKC exercises should be incorporated into rehabilitation program of grade-I ACL injuries.