Dry Needling and Quad Strength After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Starting soon · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Rehabilitation, Dry Needling, Strength

In brief

Dry needling is a skilled intervention provided by trained physical therapists to treat pain, myofascial dysfunction, and a variety of other diagnosis. While there is research demonstrating the benefits of dry needling in reduction of pain and improvement in strength, research in regards the pediatric population is very limited. A recent retrospective chart review regarding dry needling trends and outcomes in the pediatric orthopedic population showed the pediatric population is tolerating this treatment and seeing benefits. Physical therapists are already pushing the boundaries and finding additional benefits in the use of dry needling with current patients. A diagnosis frequently seen in sports medicine is surgical reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Over the last couple of years, therapists have seen an increase in the use of quadriceps tendon autograft for reconstruction following ACL tears due to lower incidence rate of retears. Patients have been struggling to regain strength of the quadriceps to meet desired outcomes. The quadricep muscles are one of the major stabilizers of the knee and with a reduction in strength places the patient at a significant increase of retear. Subjects will be categorized into an experimental group (dry needling intervention + physical therapy) or the control group (physical therapy only) with a N of 20 in each group. The goal for this research is to determine if dry needling use in the subacute phase of post-operative ACLR following quadriceps autograft can assist with increasing quad strength and improve post-surgical outcomes.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07657195

Run by

Children's Mercy Hospital Kansas City

People needed

40

Starts

2026-08-14

Expected to finish

2027-06-30

Last updated by the study team

2026-07-22

Who can join

Age: 10 and older, up to 20. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Status post subacute quadriceps autograft 6 weeks or less
• Ages 10-20 years
• English and/or Spanish speaking

You may not qualify if…

• History of surgery on the knee or hip on the testing lower extremity.
• Any surgical intervention to other ligamentous or meniscus structures during time of ACLR
• Any post-surgical complications such as infection
• Current pregnancy

Where it is running

• Children's Mercy Sports Medicine Center- Village West — Kansas City, Kansas, United States
• Children's Mercy - Blue Valley — Overland Park, Kansas, United States
• Children's Mercy Hospital- Kansas City — Kansas City, Missouri, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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