ArticleBMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation2021
Which assessments are used to analyze neuromuscular control by electromyography after an anterior cruciate ligament injury to determine readiness to return to sports? A systematic review.
Article in BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Tailored Rehabilitation Program and Dynamic Ultrasonography After Surgical Repair of Bilateral Simultaneous Quadriceps Tendon Rupture in a Patient Affected by Gout: A Case Report.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The Impact of a Single Hip Manipulation on Quadriceps Activity and Performance: A Randomized Study.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Quadriceps and Hamstrings Activation Peaks Earlier as Athletes Repeatedly Hop, but There are Differences Depending on ACL Reconstruction Technique.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2024Article
- Neuromuscular Response during Different Side-Cutting Maneuvers and Its Influence on the Risk of Knee Injuries.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Neuromuscular control in males and females 1 year after an anterior cruciate ligament rupture or reconstruction during stair descent and artificial tibial translation.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Sex-specific differences in neuromuscular activation of the knee stabilizing muscles in adults - a systematic review.Archives of physiotherapy · 2023Review
- Altered neuromuscular control in the vastus medialis following anterior cruciate ligament injury: A recurrence quantification analysis of electromyogram recruitment.Clinical biomechanics (Bristol, Avon) · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAdequate neuromuscular control of the knee could be one element to prevent secondary injuries after an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. To assess neuromuscular control in terms of time, amplitude and activity, electromyography (EMG) is used. However, it is unclear which assessments using EMG could be used for a safe return to sports (RTS). Therefore, we aimed to summarize EMG-related assessments for neuromuscular control of the knee in adult patients after an ACL injury to decide upon readiness for RTS.
methodsThis systematic review followed guidelines of Preferred Reporting of Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and Cochrane recommendations. MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), SPORTDiscus and the Web of Science were searched from inception to March 2019 and updated in November 2020. Studies identifying electromyographic assessments for neuromuscular control during dynamic tasks in adult, physically active patients with an anterior cruciate ligament injury were eligible and qualitatively synthesized. Two independent reviewers used a modified Downs and Black checklist to assess risk of bias of included studies.
resultsFrom initially 1388 hits, 38 mainly cross-sectional, case-controlled studies were included for qualitative analysis. Most studies provided EMG outcomes of thigh muscles during jumping, running or squatting. Outcomes measures described neuromuscular control of the knee in domains of time, amplitude or activity. Risk of bias was medium to high due to an unclear description of participants and prior interventions, confounding factors and incompletely reported results.
conclusionsDespite a wide range of EMG outcome measures for neuromuscular control, none was used to decide upon return to sports in these patients. Additional studies are needed to define readiness towards RTS by assessing neuromuscular control in adult ACL patients with EMG. Further research should aim at finding reliable and valid, EMG-related variables to be used as diagnostic tool for neuromuscular control. Moreover, future studies should aim at more homogenous groups including adequately matched healthy subjects, evaluate gender separately and use sport-specific tasks. Registration The protocol for this systematic review was indexed beforehand in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) and registered as CRD42019122188.
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