Forced knee extension test is a manual test that correlates with the unstable feelings of patients with ACL injury before and after reconstruction.

BACKGROUND: To investigate fear in patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury before and after reconstruction, a forced knee extension (FKE) test was performed. The correlation of the test results was evaluated with the subjective function, sports performance and objective parameters.

METHODS: The study included 102 patients with unilateral ACL reconstruction using a semitendinosus tendon with full clinical evaluation. This study was retrospective and determined the longitudinal results of the FKE test and investigated the effects on the subjective and objective outcomes at 2years.

RESULTS: Preoperatively, 47% of patients showed positive FKE tests. The number of positive FKE tests was 31% at six months and 15% at 24months after ACL reconstruction. At two years, there were statistically significant differences between the FKE test positives and negatives regarding both subjective knee recovery (P=0.0095) and sports performance (P=0.0006).

CONCLUSIONS: A new manual test, called the forced knee extension test, for fear in patients with ACL injury before and after reconstruction was introduced. The apprehension remained positive in 15% of the patients two years after ACL reconstruction, which affected subjective recovery of knee function and sports performance.