Pilates for Partial Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Tears
Sam’s world view
Each month we hear from Sam Wood - she summarises the most recent articles published in the Pilates industry.
A 2017 study by Celik and Turkel looked at the effects of Pilates on muscle strength, function, and knee instability for patients with a partial ACL tear in which nonsurgical treatment was preferred. Fifty participants between 20 and 45 years of age were randomly assigned to either the Pilates exercise group or the control group. The authors designed a specific program of basic Pilates mat exercises focused on core stability and lower extremity strength and flexibility. The Pilates group participated in a 60-minute group class three times per week for 12 weeks. The control group did not receive any treatment or a home exercise program. Functional scores and isokinetic strength were assessed at baseline and at the end of the 12 weeks by a physical therapist.
Per quadriceps strength testing, the Pilates group experienced significant improvement over that of the control group. Though both groups showed improvement in knee function (assessed via the Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale and the Cincinnati Knee Rating System), the Pilates group’s results were of a larger magnitude. According to the responses of the patients in the Pilates group on the global rating of change scale, 88 percent stated that they felt much better in terms of stability, and 12 percent reported they were slightly better. The authors believed that the decreased feelings of the knee giving way reported by the Pilates group were due to improved core strength. In the control group, only 23 percent reported to be slightly better, 38 percent felt the same, and 38 percent said they had deteriorated slightly.
This study concluded that participation in Pilates resulted in superior recovery when compared to no exercise participation. The authors suggested that because Pilates was shown to improve quadriceps strength and subjectively increase both knee stability and function, it may provide clinicians with a novel option when choosing a treatment for a partial ACL injury.
References
Celik, D., and N. Turkel. 2017. “The Effectiveness of Pilates for Partial Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury.” Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy 25 (8): 2357-2364.