Modification of Quadriceps Femoris Muscle Exercises During Knee Rehabilitation

Abstract

Rehabilitation of the quadriceps femoris muscle is the cornerstone of full recovery after inactivity, immobilization, or surgery of the knee. Muscle strengthening programs often are interrupted by patients' complaints of pain experienced during exercise, which frequently prolong the patients' convalescence period. Specific modifications of standard quadriceps femoris muscle exercises often allow completely pain-free exercise, thus providing a faster progression of treatment and a subsequently shorter rehabilitation period. The purposes of this article are to review briefly patellofemoral biomechanics as it relates to quadriceps muscle rehabilitation and to summarize several modifications that in our clinical experience repeatedly have reduced pain during exercise.

Differences in Sonographic Characteristics of the Vastus Medialis Obliquus between Patients with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome and Healthy Adults

“…20,22,32,33 Reportedly, VMO training has been observed to relieve PFPS and promote knee function. 1,28,30 However, several reports have questioned the link between patellar malalignment and PFPS. 22,33 It has been noted that in cadaveric studies, there is no significant difference in fiber angle or muscle volume of the VMO between PFPS and asymptomatic knees.…”

Prevalence and morphology of the vastus medialis oblique muscle in human cadavers

“…Since the original description, many articles have been published describing the fiber alignment Perry, 1968, 1971;Speakman and Weisberg, 1977;Bose et al, 1980;Scharf et al, 1985;Weinstabl et al, 1989), nerve innervation (Thiranagama, 1990;Gunal et al, 1992), function Perry, 1968, 1971;Basmajian et al, 1972;Speakman and Weisberg, 1977;Adler et al, 1983;Salzman et al, 1993), sequela from injury to and/or atrophy of the VMO (Speakman and Weisberg, 1977;Bose et al, 1980;Scharf et al, 1985;McConnell, 1986;Weinstabl et al, 1989), and rehabilitation of the VMO (Speakman and Weisberg, 1977;LeVeau and Rogers, 1980;Bohannon, 1983;Wise et al, 1984;Antich and Brewster, 1986). Several researchers (Lieb and Perry, 1971;Speakman and Weisberg, 1977;Salzman et al, 1993) have stated that the muscle group that extends the leg should be called quinticeps, to emphasize the fact that these two muscles are quite different, both anatomically and functionally.…”

The Effect of Open and Closed Chain Exercise and Knee Joint Position on Patellar Tracking in Lateral Patellar Compression syndrome

“…Short arc quadriceps sets are often advocated for vastus medialis oblique strength-ening (1,4,5,11,13). However, the use of short arc quadriceps sets to selectively recruit the vastus medialis oblique is unsubstantiated (7).…”