The Videoinsight® method: improving rehabilitation following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction--a preliminary study.

Abstract

The purpose of this randomized double blind controlled study was to investigate if the vision of contemporary art video according to the Videoinsight(®) method could produce better short-term clinical and subjective outcomes after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. One-hundred and six patients treated with single-bundle ACL reconstruction plus extra-articular tenodesis were enrolled in this study and randomly assigned to Group A (53 patients) and Group B (53 patients). Group A received one art video that was established to produce positive and therapeutic "insight", while Group B received one art video with an "insight" unfavourable to the psychological recovery. All patients were instructed to watch the video 3 times a week for the first 2 months during the execution of the same rehabilitative protocol. Patients were evaluated pre-operatively and 3 months after surgery with Tegner, subjective International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), physical and mental SF-36 scores and Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK). Time to crutches discharge was collected at final follow-up as well. Five patients were lost to follow-up and 101 patients (Group A: 51 patients; Group B: 50 patients) were available at mean 3.0 ± 0.2 months follow-up. Age at surgery was 33.0 ± 17.0 years. The two groups were homogeneous regarding pre-operative demographic data, meniscal lesions and clinical outcomes. Significant improvements were observed in Group A compared to Group B at final follow-up for subjective IKDC (82.0 ± 13.8 vs. 71.0 ± 19.7, p = 0.0470), TKS (28.1 ± 6.0 vs. 32.0 ± 5.8, p = 0.0141) and time to crutches discharge (20.9 ± 5.0 vs. 26.5 ± 8.2 days, p = 0.0012). A positive significant correlation between TSK and time to crutches discharge (r = 0.35, p = 0.0121) was observed. The Videoinsight(®) method combined to adequate rehabilitation could be an effective tool in order to improve short-term clinical and functional outcomes in patients who underwent ACL reconstruction.