Patient management before knee ligament surgery
Hayley Carter
Hayley’s PhD research investigates the preoperative management of patients waiting for knee ligament (anterior cruciate ligament) surgery. The anterior cruciate ligament is the most commonly injured ligament in the knee. Surgery is currently standard treatment for anterior cruciate ligament tears but waiting times for surgery are long. In this waiting time, it is advised that patients undergo preoperative rehabilitation to help them prepare physically and mentally. However, current practice varies it is not known how best to treat patients.
After anterior cruciate ligament surgery, most patients aim to return to their pre-injury level of physical activity. However, recent research has shown that, at 1-year, only 24% of patients have been able to return. We hope that by helping patients better prepare before surgery, their outcomes before and after surgery will improve.
The aim of Hayley’s research is to develop a pre-operative treatment package. This will be completed by interviewing patients, developing the treatment package with clinicians, patients and therapy managers through a consensus study and then implementing the treatment package in clinical practice. It is intended that this will lead to a treatment, guiding best practice for patients with anterior cruciate ligament injuries waiting for surgery.
Hayley says:
The NRC is an excellent facility, combining clinical practice with research, innovation, education and training. Communication between clinical practice and research is vital to ensure research is clinically relevant and the results of research are driven into practice. The NRC embodies the importance of this and will be a gold standard hub delivering ambitious, novel research and evidence-based rehabilitation”. The NRC Clinical and Academic Partnership (NCAP) brings together a ‘hub and spoke’ network of more than 20 universities across the country allowing exciting new collaborations between hundreds of rehabilitation researchers and clinicians. Hayley says “this partnership will be invaluable to make a difference. It will lead to improved patient care and outcomes, showcasing the value of rehabilitation
Hayley Carter, Clinical Doctoral Research Fellow, NIHR302104 is funded by Health Education England (HEE) / NIHR for this research project.
The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, NHS or the UK Department of Health and Social Care.