Abstract

Background. Few rehabilitation problems raise so much controversy as the timing of rehabilitation and the choice of rehabilitation techniąues in patients following posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) reconstruction. PCL damage occurs in almost 37% of injuries to the knee joint. PCL plays a significant role in stabilising the knee joint. As the signs and symptoms of PCL damage are not so clear-cut as in injuries of other ligaments, a correct diagnosis and institution of treatment are often delayed. A key problem in rehabilitation of these patients is the need to protect the graft. Accordingly all rehabilitation procedures should be carefully supervised. Since there are few available publications concerned with the rehabilitation of patients following PCL surgery, the authors decided to present their own model of rehabilitation. The key elements of this scheme, such as the timing and choice of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are compared to other methodologies presented in the literaturę.Fuli recovery reąuires a long period of rehabilitation that is dwided into several stages. Ultimately the fuli rangę ofmovement and appropriate muscle strength are restored, and the patient regains fuli motor control thanks to the restoration of proprioception. The authors propose a model of biomechanical investigations enabling objective evaluation ofthe rehabilitation process following PCL reconstruction surgery.

Key words:

posterior cruciate ligament, trauma, reconstruction, physiotherapy, biomechanical investigations