ACL Reconstruction — Hamstring Autograft

Brigham and Women's Hospital · Dept. of Rehabilitation Services

Weight-Bearing

PWB with crutches (0-1 wk); progress to FWB by 4 wks

Key Restrictions

Protect graft revascularization (8 wks) and fixation (8-12 wks); flex to 90 deg only Phase I; avoid hyperext >10 deg; delay hamstring strengthening x 12 wks; very gentle hamstring stretching at 1 wk; brace locked ext x 1 wk, unlock <90 wks 1-3, wean wks 3-4

Timeline & Phases

3 phases: Phase I (0-4 wks), Phase II (4-12 wks), Phase III (12+ wks); supervised PT 4-7 months

Notes

Hamstring-specific; longer graft fixation protection (8-12 wks vs 4-6 wks BPTB); CKC quad strengthening delayed to Phase II; for meniscus repair/transplant defer to meniscus protocol. [Archived copy — original Brigham and Women's Hospital URL retired in the Mass General Brigham site migration; Wayback snapshot 2026-04-20.]

Surgeon / Author

Dept. of Rehabilitation Services

Published

2007