Objectives: To examine the effects of 2 gait retraining protocols on the gait patterns of patients with bone-patellar tendon-bone anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.
Design: Randomized control, repeated-measures design.
Setting: Private orthopedic center and research facility.
Participants: Sixteen patients with bone-patellar tendon-bone ACL reconstruction, randomly subdivided into 2 groups (group 1, n=8; group 2, n=8), and a healthy control group of 8 subjects.
Intervention: The 16 subjects with ACL reconstruction were randomly assigned to 2 different gait retraining protocols over a 6-week training interval: (1). a protocol using a predicted stride frequency calculated from the resonant frequency of a force-driven harmonic oscillator (FDHO) model or (2). a protocol using the preferred stride frequency (PSF).
Main outcome measures: Gait analyses examining the lower-extremity kinematic, kinetic, and energetic gait patterns of each group.
Results: Gait retraining with the FDHO model showed improvements in lower-extremity positions, hip and knee extensor angular impulse, and work parameters. Gait retraining with the PSF demonstrated no statistical improvements. The FDHO training protocol facilitated a greater midstance knee range of motion (ROM) and greater rates of improvement for midstance ROM, hip extensor angular impulse, and concentric hip extensor work.
Conclusions: Gait retraining with the resonant frequency of an FDHO model facilitated a greater recovery of gait function compared with training with the PSF.