Recruiting

Quadriceps Interventions

Sponsor:

Stanford University

Code:

NCT07015541

Conditions

ACL Tear

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 13 - 17

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

NMES and BFR

Standard physical therapy

Study Details

Brief summary:

The purpose of this study is to characterize quadriceps function and squat biomechanics during the early strengthening phase in adolescent patients undergoing a standardized combined neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and blood flow restriction (BFR) rehabilitation protocol

Conditions

ACL Tear

Study ID

NCT07015541

Start date

Aug, 2026

Status verified date

Jul, 2026

Completion date

Nov, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Nov, 2028

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 13 - 17

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • no history of knee injury/surgery of the contralateral limb

Exclusion Criteria:

  • (1) bilateral knee injuries
  • (2) prior knee ligament injury and/or surgery
  • (3) multiple ligament injuries and/or ruptures
  • (4) conditions in which NMES and BFR are contraindicated

Study Design

Enrollment

20 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Additional neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and blood flow restriction (BFR)

Participants receive a 6-week NMES intervention from week 1 to week 6 post-surgery, followed by a 10-week BFR intervention from week 7 to week 16. Participants also receive standard rehabilitation care as part of their routine postsurgical recovery process.

Interventions

NMES and BFR

NMES is applied when patients perform quadriceps strengthening exercises. BFR is applied during compound exercises.

Standard physical therapy

Standard physical therapy (week 1-16) includes interventions for typical impairments following ACLR. The initial phase will focus on pain and effusion control, restoration of knee range of motion, followed by gait normalization, lower extremity strength training, then running and plyometrics.

Primary outcome measure

  • Peak force as measured by isometric knee extension force test [ Time Frame: 12 and 16 weeks post surgery ]
  • Force steadiness as measured by isometric knee extension force test [ Time Frame: 12 and 16 weeks post surgery ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Locations

Stanford Medicine Children's Health

Recruiting

Sunnyvale, California, United States, 94087

Contacts

Chao-Jung Hsu, PhD

650-313-1808ChaHsu@stanfordchildrens.org

Jeffery Morgan, MS

650-313-1808jemorgan@stanford.edu

More Information

Sponsor

Stanford University

Last update posted

Jul 24, 2026

Last verified

Jul, 2026

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Stanford University on 2026-07-24.