Sports Medicine ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE Application of the Sit-to-Stand Movement for the Early Assessment of Functional Deficits in Patients Who Underwent Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction ABSTRACT Laudani L, Giombini A, Mariani PP, Pigozzi F, Macaluso A: Application of the sit- to-stand movement for the early assessment of functional deficits in patients who underwent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2013;92:00Y00. Objective: The aims of this study were to identify and quantify functional deficits between the involved and the uninvolved limb as early as 1 mo after ACL reconstruction by means of a sit-to-stand movement on two force platforms. Design: Ground reaction forces were measured in 73 patients who underwent ACL reconstruction, 47 with patellar tendon autograft and 26 with hamstring tendon autograft (ACL-H), and in 22 controls, who stood up from a seat as fast as possible. Side-to-side limb symmetry index (LSI) was calculated for peak force and rate of force development. Results: The LSI of vertical peak force was 59% in the patellar tendon au- tograft group and 68% in the ACL-H group, which were both lower than the 95% LSI of the controls (P G 0.001). The LSI of rate of force development was 27% in the patellar tendon autograft group and 48% in the ACL-H group, which were both lower than the 97% LSI of the controls (P G 0.001). After 2 mos, only in the ACL-H group, the LSI of both vertical peak force and rate of force develop- ment reached 88% and 80%, respectively, thus approaching the 96% and 92% LSI of the controls. Conclusions: Sit-to-stand is effective for measuring functional deficits as early as 1 mo after ACL reconstruction. After 2 mos from surgery, the ACL-H group but not the patellar tendon autograft group approached the LSI of the control group, which may be attributed to differences in the graft. Key Words: Knee, Rehabilitation, Ground Reaction Forces, Rate of Force Development Authors: Luca Laudani, PhD Arrigo Giombini, MD Pier Paolo Mariani, MD Fabio Pigozzi, MD Andrea Macaluso, MD, PhD Affiliations: From the Department of Human Movement, Social and Health Sciences, University of Rome Foro Italico, Rome, Italy (LL, PPM, FP, AM); Villa Stuart Sport Clinic, FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence, Rome, Italy (LL, PPM, FP, AM); and Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Molise, Campobasso, Italy (AG). Correspondence: All correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed to: Andrea Macaluso, Department of Human Movement, Social and Health Sciences, University of Rome Foro Italico, Piazza Lauro De Bosis 6, 00135, Rome, Italy. Disclosures: Financial disclosure statements have been obtained, and no conflicts of interest have been reported by the authors or by any individuals in control of the content of this article. 0894-9115/13/9210-0000/0 American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Copyright * 2013 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins DOI: 10.1097/PHM.0b013e3182a54178 www.ajpmr.com Sit-to-Stand Test After Knee Surgery 1 Copyright © 2013 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.