Postoperative functional rehabilitation after repair of quadriceps tendon ruptures: a comparison of two different protocols.

PURPOSE: Early functional rehabilitation after surgical tendon repair facilitates the healing process and leads to improved joint function. There is a paucity of studies commenting on rehabilitation after surgical repair of ruptured quadriceps tendons, and most surgeons prefer a prolonged period of immobilization and protected weight bearing. The purpose of the present study is to compare the clinical outcome after a more functional and after a rather restrictive postoperative rehabilitation protocol.

METHODS: All consecutive patients were included who had a surgical repair of a primary unilateral quadriceps tendon rupture in one of the two participating hospitals and a minimum follow-up of 24 months. Patients of site A were only allowed limited flexion and weight bearing while patients from site B were allowed early functional rehabilitation with full weight bearing. Clinical outcome was measured with the subjective IKDC form. Fisher's exact test and Mann-Whitney U test were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS: Sixty-six patients were included in the study. Twenty-eight patients (Group A) were treated with restrictive and 38 patients (Group B) with early functional postoperative rehabilitation. The two groups did not differ in terms of demographic characteristics. Clinical follow-up was available for 95% of patients after an average of 4.5 years. No clinical difference was identified with the use of IKDC form. Patients of group A returned to work an average of 10 days later than patients from group B, but this difference was not significant. Two re-ruptures were observed in each group. There was no significant difference in terms of complication quality or quantity.

CONCLUSION: Early functional postoperative mobilization with full weight bearing after primary repair of a quadriceps tendon rupture is safe and will not lead to inferior clinical outcome or an increased complication rate.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, III.