Table 3.

Criterion Based Rehabilitation Progression – Tissue Protection and Restoration of Motor Control Phases

Activity	Time to Begin in		Knee Joint Inflammation	Range of Motion	Strength	Neuromuscular Control & Task Mastery
	Early Group	Delayed Group
Gait – WBAT using bilateral crutches with locked brace	Week 0	Week 4	High	Able to wear brace locked in extension comfortably	--	Able to sequence gait with bilateral crutches safely
Exercise – NWB Quadriceps	Week 1			90o flexion		Active quadriceps contraction
Exercise – Basic Bilateral WB for LE			Moderate	Neutral extension (anatomic 0o) to 45o
Gait – WBAT using bilateral crutches with unlocked brace				Neutral extension to 60o	Lag < 5o with SLR	Able to demonstrate single leg balance for 5-10 seconds and semi-normal gait pattern
Exercise – Basic Unilateral WB for LE	Week 3					Able to demonstrate single leg balance for 5-10 seconds
Gait – WBAT with unlocked brace and no crutches				Neutral extension to 90o	Lag < 3o with SLR	Semi-normal gait pattern 5 reps each limb of 7” step up without obvious compensation
Exercise – Stationary Cycling for ROM						Able to weight shift to 75% WB on surgical limb
Exercise – Advanced WB LE Strengthening	Week 6		Low			5 reps each limb of 7” step up without obvious compensation
Gait – without brace or crutches				Neutral extension to 120o		Generally normal gait pattern Reciprocal stair negotiation 10 repetitions each of step ups AND step downs to a 7“ step without pain or aberrant movements
Exercise – Active HS Strengthening without Resistance	Week 8		Moderate	Neutral extension to 90o	Pain free contraction of the HS	Absence of posterior drawer with hamstring activation
Exercise – Active Resistive HS Strengthening	Week 12		Low

Abbreviations: WBAT – weight bearing as tolerated; NWB – non-weight bearing; LE – lower extremity; reps – repetitions; ROM – range of motion; HS - hamstrings