[Peculiarities of early rehabilitation of mountain ski athletes after plastic reconstruction of anterior cruciate ligament].

The primary objective of the present study was to estimate the effectiveness of the new methods of physical rehabilitation for mountain ski athletes designed to optimize and accelerate restoration of their professional capabilities after arthroscopic plastic reconstruction of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). This open controlled prospective study involved 26 alpine skiers aged from 18 to 25 who were recruited into the regular follow up program based at our Centre during the last 3 years. The athletes proved able to start balance training on the Biodex platform 4 weeks earlier than with the use of the conventional approach. These exercises were supplemented by the training of speed endurance on the Speed Courte tensor platform and Sky Teck ski simulators. Control studies were carried out on the 16th and 24th weeks of the rehabilitation period. Their results were compared with the results shown by the same athletes before injury. It was found that the early introduction of exercises designed to normalize proprioception into the rehabilitative treatment allowed the injured mountain ski athletes to restore the strength of femoral muscles and specific professional skills by the 4th month of the rehabilitation period. It is concluded that the combination of classical rehabilitative techniques with balance training, Speed Court training, and training on the alpine ski simulator makes it possible to begin special of alpine ski training on the snow 2 months earlier than with the use of conventkional methods.

[The estimation of the effectiveness of early rehabilitation of the athletes practicing different sports after the knee injury with the use of specific simulators].

There are yet no optimal criteria to be applied in rehabilitative sports medicine for the estimation of the restoration of the athletes' physical conditions to enable them to return to their professional activities. The primary objective of the present study was to develop specific methods for the assessment of the physical performance of the athletes safe enough for the use at any stage of testing and sufficiently informative to give idea of the athlete's condition. To this effect, we compared the effectiveness of various testing procedures specific for different sports. We divided the athletes suffering injuries to the knee joint into two groups. The control group consisted of athletes that were tested by classical diagnostic methods employed in sports medicine. The study group was comprised of the athletes examined by the methods specific for a given sport. The effectiveness of diagnostic methods was estimated based on the calculation of the frequency of repeated injuries during two months after the athletes were permitted to resume training. Results. The study has demonstrated that specific methods designed for testing alpine skiers, hockey players, and football players are more specific and produce better results if used for the assessment of the athletes' physical conditions in combination with the conventional diagnostic tests. Such an approach makes it possible to decrease the number of repeated injuries.