Recovery exercise methods after meniscus injury surgery

I believe that friends who like to play basketball, football and other sports should be familiar with meniscus injury. A meniscus injury is a damage to the knee. In our daily walking, jumping and other movements, we need to bend our knees. Meniscus injury has a great impact on our daily life. After a meniscus injury, pain may occur if you are not careful when exercising. In more serious cases, the patient may not be able to walk. Surgery is usually performed to treat meniscus injury. Recovery exercises after surgery are also very important. Here we will introduce the recovery exercises after meniscus injury surgery.

The general rehabilitation plan after meniscus injury repair surgery is introduced as follows.

1. Protection period: (1 day to 4 weeks after surgery) Postoperative splint fixation in extended position (needs to be worn when walking and at night).

After the anesthesia wears off, begin trying:

(1) Ankle pump exercise: (If the patient is in good physical condition, the ankle circle exercise on the far right of the figure can be added) requires forceful, slow, and full range of ankle flexion and extension.

( 2 ) Isometric contraction exercise of the quadriceps (front thigh muscles).

(3) Isometric contraction exercises of the hamstrings (muscles on the back of the thigh).

(4 ) The patient can walk with the help of crutches 24 hours after surgery, but only for necessary activities such as going to the toilet, and whether the affected limb should bear weight should be determined according to the surgeon's instructions.

2-7 days after surgery:

(1) Start the multi-directional straight leg raising exercise with the brace fixed at 0°: straighten the lower limbs in all directions and lift them to a certain height. There are two training methods to choose from:

Static training mode: lift your legs and hold for 10 seconds, slowly relax, rest for 10 seconds, then lift them again, repeat this process, 10 times/set, 2 sets/day.

Dynamic training mode: lift and lower the legs once, 10-30 times/group, rest 10-20 seconds between groups, 4-6 groups/large group, 2 large groups/day.

(2) One week after surgery, start flexion range of motion exercises: sit with legs hanging down within a slightly painful range. The flexion angle does not exceed 90°. 10 minutes/time, once a day is enough. Apply ice compress immediately after exercise for about 20 minutes. If you feel obvious heat or swelling in the joints, you can apply ice compress every 1-2 hours (if the cotton leg pressure bandage has not been removed, there is no need to apply ice compress).

2-4 weeks after surgery:

(1) Continue and strengthen straight leg lift strength training;

(2) Strengthen the hip muscles: hold for 5 seconds per time, 30 times per set, 3-4 sets per day.

Action instructions: Stand upright with feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointing forward. Use the support of the healthy leg to stand firmly. Tie an elastic band around the ankle joint of the affected leg and fix the other end. Extend the knee and pull the rubber band in four directions, forward, backward, outward, and inward, in sequence. The maximum angle is required to be maintained for a certain time or the movement is completed as one time. This exercise mainly strengthens the muscles around the hip flexor and the front and back thigh muscles.

(3 ) During this period, the passive knee flexion angle increases by about 10° per week;

2. Mid-term: (5-7 weeks after surgery):

During this period, you should avoid excessive walking to prevent joint swelling and fluid accumulation, which may affect functional recovery and tissue healing.

(1) Weight-bearing and balance exercises

Stand under protection with your feet shoulder-width apart. Slowly and alternately shift your center of gravity left and right (first two pictures) and front and back (last two pictures). Gradually increase the weight and strength of the affected lower limb, and strive to stand on one leg with full weight on the affected side. Generally it is 5 minutes/time, 2 times/group, 2-3 groups/day. Generally, practice until you can stand on one leg on the affected side for 1 minute, and then you can walk without the crutches.

(2) Passive knee flexion exercises: Patients whose ROM reaches 110°-115° and whose joint swelling and pain are not obvious can start flexibility exercises using a power bicycle with a crank length of 170 mm (select no load to light load, 20-30 minutes/time, twice a day). However, the maximum passive motion angle can be maintained at 120°.

3. Late period (8-12 weeks after surgery):

(1) The affected limb can bear full weight 8 weeks after surgery.

(2) Eight weeks after surgery , gradually strengthen flexion exercises (same method as above). After ROM reaches 120°, quadriceps stretching exercises can be started, aiming to gradually achieve full range of flexion within 12 weeks after surgery.

( 3) Start the prone “leg hook exercise”: 30 times/set, 2-4 sets/day. Use a sandbag or elastic band as load and perform the exercise within the flexion and extension range of 0-45 degrees. Apply ice immediately if the joints are swollen or painful after the exercise.

(4) Static squat exercise: 2 minutes/time, 5 seconds interval, 5-10 times/set, 2 sets/day.

( 6) Strive to achieve a normal walking gait.

4. Recovery period: (3 months after surgery)

(1) Start single-knee squats (same as above): Squat in the range of 0-45°, moving slowly and under control without shaking the upper body. If necessary, you can lift weights with both hands to increase the difficulty of the exercise. 20 times/set, 30 seconds interval, 2-4/continuous sets, 1-2 exercises/day.

(2) Power bike training: moderate load, 20-30 minutes/time, 2 times/day.

(3) Seated resisted knee extension: Use a sandbag or other load-bearing exercise, 30 times/set, rest for 30 seconds between sets, 4-6 sets in a row, 2-3 times/day.