To observe the efficacy of acupuncture-moxibustion combined with kinesitherapy in knee joint rehabilitation after arthroscopic simple reconstruction of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture.

Forty patients with simple anterior cruciate ligament rupture admitted to the outpatient clinic and ward of the Sports Injury and Arthroscopy Department II of Tianjin Hospital from January 2019 to June 2019 were selected and divided into 20 cases each in an observation group and a control group using the random number table method. The control group was treated with exercise therapy and the observation group was treated with acupuncture and mild-warm moxibustion on the basis of the treatment of the control group, starting from the 3rd week after surgery, 5 times a week for 6 weeks. Active maximum knee flexion, visual analogue scale (VAS), Lysholm knee function scores and change in circumference difference between the healthy and affected sides of the thigh and lower leg were observed before and at weeks 2, 4 and 6 after treatment in both groups. The above indicators were compared between groups using two independent samples t-test and within groups at different time points before and after treatment using repeated measures ANOVA.

(1) In the observation group and the control group, the active knee flexion and Lysholm scores tended to increase with the increase of treatment time, and there was a statistically significant difference between the time points of the same group (F=1 924.721, 1 720.125, all P<0.05; F=241.928, 188.692, all P<0.001). The VAS scores and the difference between the circumference of the healthy side and the affected side of the thigh and calf tended to decrease with the increase of treatment time. There was a statistically significant difference between the time points of the same group [F=128.913, 48.702, F(△1)=205.625, 109.898, F(△2)=108.806, 58.334, all P<0.001]; (2) The increase in active knee flexion and Lysholm scores at weeks 2, 4 and 6 after treatment was better in the observation group than in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (t=4.172, 5.489, 4.645, all P<0.05; t=5.434, 6.213, 4.756, all P<0.05); the decrease in VAS scores at weeks 2, 4 and 6 after treatment was better in the observation group than in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (t=-2.674, -5.570, -2.604, all P<0.05); the decrease in the difference between the circumference of the healthy side and the affected side of the thigh and calf at weeks 2 after treatment was not statistically significant in the observation group compared with the control group (P>0.05). But the reduction in the difference between the circumference of the healthy side and the affected side of the upper and lower legs at weeks 4 and 6 after treatment was better than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant [t(△1)=-4.775, -5.659, all P<0.05; t(△2)=-3.361, -3.773, all P<0.05].

Both simple exercise therapy and acupuncture-moxibustion combined with exercise therapy can improve the rehabilitation of knee joint function after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, and acupuncture-moxibustion combined with exercise therapy is better than simple exercise therapy.