Open versus closed kinetic chain exercises for patellar Chondromalacia

Amir H Bakhtiary ^1* and Elham Fatemi ¹

¹ Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, Islamic Republic of

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: amir822{at}yahoo.com.

Accepted 25 June 2007

Abstract

Subject: Conservative treatment of Patellar Chondromalacia has been the subject of the several studies. One of its recommended treatments is the strengthening exercise of quadriceps, which may be performed in the closed or open kinematics chains. As, there is no study to compare the preference of these exercises, this study has been designed to compare the effect of SLR and semi-squat exercises on the treatment of patellar chondromalacia.

Material and Methods: 32 female university students with diagnostic of patellar chondromalacia randomly assigned in one of two experimental, SLR and semi-squat exercise groups. Before starting exercise protocols, Q angle, maximal isometric voluntary contraction force (MIVCF) of quadriceps, crepitation, circumference of thigh in 5 and 10 cm above the patella, patellofemoral pain in visual analogue scale (VAS) were assessed. Then both groups were undergone a three weeks (twice daily, started at 20 times each and 5 times added in each day) of quadriceps strengthening exercise including SLR or semi-squat. All measurements were repeated at the end of each week and also in two weeks after the 3 weeks exercise protocol.

Results: Findings showed reduced Q angle (p=0.016) and crepitation (P=0.04), and also some increase in MIVCF of quadriceps (P=0.01) and in thigh circumference (p=0.001) in the semi-squat group compared to the SLR group. However, patellofemoral pain was decreased significantly in both.

Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that semi-squat exercise (Closed Kinematics Chain) is more effective than SLR exercise (Open kinematics Chain) on the treatment of patellar chondromalacia. More studies are needed to investigate the most long term effect of this type of exercise.

Key Words: Chondromalacia, Exercise, SLR, semi-squat

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