OBJECTIVE: As arthroscopy has been applied in the reconstruction of knee joint cruciate ligament, the postoperative outcomes were improved remarkably. However, the reconstructed knee joints are fixed completely or unfree to move and muscle contraction happens, which then induces contracture of articular capsule and joints surrounding ligament and muscular atrophy, even degeneration of articular cartilage and impacts the postoperative functional recovery. DATA SOURCES: The articles between January 1980 and March 2004 were searched for in Medline with the key words 'anterior cruciate ligament, posterior cruciate ligament, reconstruction, rehabilitation' and the language was limited to English. Meanwhile, the similar articles between January 1994 and March 2004 were searched for in http://www.wanfangdata.com.cn using the same key words as above, but in Chinese. STUDY SELECTION: After the primary trial to the articles, those about the rehabilitation exercise before and after reconstruction of cruciate ligament were collected. The included articles were about: (1) randomized or self-controlled clinical studies, (2) investigation, (3) clear rehabilitation procedure and (4) definite conclusion. The excluded articles were 1 repeated and uniform studies and 2 reviews. DATA EXTRACTION: Totally 42 articles related to the rehabilitative intervention in the reconstruction of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) or posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) were collected, from which 23 accordant with the inclusion criteria were selected to review. DATA SYNTHESIS: The reviews were performed on the biomechanics of cruciate ligament healing and the influence of all the rehabilitation procedures on the rehabilitative outcomes before and after transplantation. (1) The rehabilitation after reconstruction of ACL with patellar tendon bone-one third of patellar tendon-bone graft: It was shown from the effects of open kinetic exercise versus closed kinetic exercise measured with KT-100 arthrometry after 1-year follow-up that the forward and backward knee arthrochalasis was nearly normal in the patients treated by closed kinetic exercise as compared those treated by open kinetic exercise. (2) The rehabilitation after reconstruction of ACL with hamstring tendon grafts: Sixty-two postoperative patients were randomly divided into two groups treated with conservative rehabilitation procedure and radical rehabilitation procedure respectively. The muscle strength recovered faster, but the incidence of synovitis was higher by radical rehabilitation procedure; The muscle strength was assessed indifferent between the two rehabilitation procedures 9 months later. (3) The rehabilitation after reconstruction of PCL: from the rehabilitation guidance to 21 patients after their PCL was reconstructed with patellar tendon graft, the flexion angle of knee joint was more than 120 degrees at postoperative 3 months; The posterior drawer test at grade I was positive in 2 cases when the affected knees flexed at 70 degrees, others were all negative. CONCLUSION: Rehabilitation before or after reconstruction can obviously impact therapeutic outcomes, and the generally developing tendency of rehabilitation focuses on joint motion and muscle strength exercise in early stage.

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