Recruiting

NMES & Vibration

Sponsor:

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Code:

NCT07674784

Conditions

ACL

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 40

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

NMES

Vibration

Study Details

Brief summary:

The investigators are interested in determining what treatments are effective in reducing inhibition after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery and helping people increase quadriceps strength. Two interventions that are often used clinically are neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and vibration. This is a study of how effective these treatments are, whether they work the same for everyone, and if one is better than the other. 22 participants will be enrolled and on study for 2 to 3 weeks.

Conditions

ACL

Study ID

NCT07674784

Start date

Sep, 2026

Status verified date

Jun, 2026

Completion date

Aug, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Aug, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 40

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Have undergone ACLR within the previous 4 months
  • Are at least 2 months post-ACLR

Exclusion Criteria:

  • A history of ACLR on both legs
  • Since the most recent ACLR:

  • secondary lower extremity surgery
  • leg or foot fracture
  • Unable to walk without an assistive device
  • Pain of greater than 5/10 during quadriceps strengthening exercises with the surgical limb
  • Cannot achieve 90 degrees of knee flexion with the surgical limb
  • People with contraindications to NMES
  • Anyone who had a previous skin reaction to NMES or attempted but could not tolerate NMES
  • Peripheral neuropathy or other neurological conditions

Study Design

Enrollment

22 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: NMES then Vibration

experimental: Vibration then NMES

Interventions

NMES

The thigh of the surgical leg will be cleaned with isopropyl alcohol. 2.75" x 5" NMES electrodes (Dura-Stick Plus, Chattanooga, DJO Global, Dallas, TX) will be adhered to the proximal and distal aspects of the quadriceps muscles. An FDA-approved portable neuromuscular electrical stimulator (Empi Continuum, DJO Global, Dallas, TX) will be utilized to deliver a biphasic square wave pulse (frequency 75 Hz, pulse width 300 µs) to the quadriceps of the surgical limb. Participants will control both the amplitude of current delivered (0-100 mA) and the on/off timing of the stimulation via a wired control switch. Participants will complete common post-ACLR rehabilitation exercises while NMES is delivered (total time for exercises is approximately 20 minutes).

Vibration

Participants will sit in a comfortable position on a treatment plinth with knees flexed to \~30°, hips flexed between 30-60°, and the back supported. The back of the thighs will rest on the vibration pads of a commercial vibration device (Thumper Versa Pro Massager, (Thumper Massager Inc., Markham, Ontario, CA). Participants will sit at rest for 20 minutes while the vibration device provides a 30 Hz vibration with an amplitude of \~6 mm.

Primary outcome measure

  • Change in knee extensor peak torque production [ Time Frame: measured pre-intervention and post-intervention during each of 2, 1-hour study visits, data collection complete within 3 weeks ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Daniel Cobian, DPT, PhD

608-262-0013cobian@ortho.wisc.edu

Locations

UW Health

Recruiting

Madison, Wisconsin, United States, 53706

More Information

Sponsor

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Last update posted

Sep 10, 2026

Last verified

Jun, 2026

Keywords

  • ACLR
  • quadriceps
  • neuromuscular electrical stimulation
  • vibration

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-11. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Wisconsin, Madison on 2026-09-10.