Recruiting

Neuromuscular Training

Sponsor:

University of Manitoba

Code:

NCT02316639

Conditions

ACL-injury

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 10 - 15

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Neuromuscular Training

Study Details

Brief summary:

Recently, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of children participating in competitive sports. Adolescents involved in sports that require cutting, pivoting or body contact are at greatest risk for sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture of the knee, however, appropriate management remains controversial. The surgical technique is commonly performed in the adult population has been associated with risks for growth disturbance when performed on skeletally immature individuals. Therefore, the recommended standard of care in children is to initially follow a non-surgical management protocol that allows a patient to skeletally mature prior to ultimately receiving surgical reconstruction. Unfortunately, current non-surgical management protocols are ineffective at enhancing knee joint stability and dynamic function. There has been no research to indicate the most appropriate exercise program for the ACL deficient skeletally immature individual. A neuromuscular exercise program proven to be safe and effective in the ACL deficient adult population is perturbation training. In adolescents, research suggests neuromuscular exercises can reduce the rate of ACL injuries by 50%. However, currently there is no research investigating the benefits of a neuromuscular exercise on the management of a skeletally immature ACL-deficient individual. The results of this investigation will provide researchers and clinicians valuable information on the effect of neuromuscular perturbation exercises on knee joint stability and function immediately following injury. This has the potential to minimize the development of secondary meniscal tears and premature joint degeneration commonly demonstrated following an ACL injury.

Conditions

ACL-injury

Study ID

NCT02316639

Start date

Aug, 2015

Status verified date

Aug, 2015

Completion date

Aug, 2016

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Aug, 2016

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 10 - 15

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Ages 10-14.
2. Radiographic evidence of skeletally immaturity at the knee joint.
3. ACL-injured patients require a clinical examination and a KT-1000 test of > 3mm compared with the contralateral knee to confirm a uni-lateral ACL injury diagnosis.
4. Pass the standardized screening protocol, which includes:

i. No evidence of joint effusion via swipe test ii. Full passive knee joint range of motion iii. Full active knee extension during a straight leg raise test iv. Quadriceps femoris maximum voluntary isometric contraction force on the involved limb equivalent to 75% of that on the uninvolved limb v. Tolerance for 10 consecutive single-leg hops on the involved limb without pain.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Symptomatic meniscus or concomitant knee ligament injuries.
2. Recent history (within the 6 months) of a traumatic head (concussion), hip, knee or ankle injury.
3. Reports more than one episode of the knee giving way or buckling resulting in pain and joint effusion from the time of injury. The mechanism at the time of injury is not included.
4. Actively participating in another rehabilitation protocol during the course of the study.
5. Unwillingness or inability to return for follow-up test sessions.

Study Design

Enrollment

40 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Neuromuscular Training - No Exercise

Subjects will participate in 5 weeks of neuromuscular training followed by 5 weeks of no exercise intervention

experimental: No Exercise - Neuromuscular Training

No exercises will be administered for 5 weeks, followed by 5 weeks of neuromuscular Training.

Interventions

Neuromuscular Training

The established Neuromuscular Training (NMT) protocol is supervised, progressive program in which the patient maintains balance on three different support surfaces while a clinician administers purposeful manipulations of the support system.1 The patient maintains a single-leg stance on the rollerboard and tiltboard surfaces, and a two-leg stance with one foot on a roller board while the other is on a platform. Participants will complete two training sessions per week, for five weeks for a total of 10 training sessions.

Primary outcome measure

  • Change from baseline in Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) at week 7 [ Time Frame: week 7 ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Jason Peeler, PhD

204-272-3146peelerj@cc.unmanitoba.ca

Locations

Pan Am Clinic

Recruiting

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3M 3E4

Contacts

Alison Longo, MSc

204-927-2829alongo@panamclinic.com

Principal Investigator:

Jason Peeler, PhD

More Information

Sponsor

University of Manitoba

Last update posted

Aug 14, 2015

Last verified

Aug, 2015

Keywords

  • Neuromuscular Training
  • Skeletally Immature
  • Knee Rehabilitation

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Manitoba on 2015-08-14.