OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the relationship between range of motion and the histological analysis of the synovium of the knee joint following reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament. METHOD: Histological, pain and range-of-motion (ROM) evaluations were performed on the knees of 26 patients. The Shapiro-Wilk test, Friedman test and Spearman correlation coefficient were utilized for verifying the existence of significant correlations between the variables, using the SPSS for Windows 12.0 statistical software with a significance level of 5%. RESULTS: Comparing before and after the operation, statistical differences were found in relation to knee extension ROM (p= 0.042), flexion ROM (p= 0.001) and hyperextension (p= 0.001). There were also significant correlations between the subsynovial tissue and the flexion ROM of the operated knees (r= 0.53; p= 0.008), between the subsynovial tissue and the sensation of pain (r= 0.46; p= 0.024), and between the extension ROM after the operation and type I collagen (r= 0.52; p= 0.016). CONCLUSION: The greater the quantity of type I collagen observed, the thicker was the subsynovial tissue, the greater the reported pain, and the less was the ROM of the operated knees.
knee; anterior cruciate ligament; histological analysis; functional assessment; physical therapy
