Chronic Ankle Instability Does Not Influence Tibiofemoral Contact Forces during Drop Landings

Date

2020-06-15

Authors

Li, Yumeng
Wang, Heng
Simpson, Kathy J.

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute

Abstract

Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is a very common sequela after ankle sprains. Previous studies observed some knee biomechanical and neuromuscular alterations of CAI that could potentially relate to the knee injury mechanism during landings. However, to our knowledge, no studies have assessed the tibiofemoral contact forces for individuals with CAI. The purpose of the study was to compare the tibiofemoral contact forces of participants with CAI versus controls during landings using a computer-simulated musculoskeletal model. Twenty-one female participants with CAI and 21 pair-matched controls performed a drop landing task on a tilted force plate. A seven-camera motion capture system and two force plates were used to test participants’ lower extremity biomechanics. A musculoskeletal model was used to calculate the tibiofemoral contact forces (femur on tibia). No significant between-group differences were observed for the peak tibiofemoral contact forces (p = 0.25–0.48) during the landing phase based on paired t-tests. The group differences ranged from 0.05 to 0.58 body weight (BW). Most participants demonstrated a posterior force (peak = ~1.1 BW) for most of the landing phase and a medial force (peak = ~0.9 BW) and a large compressive force (peak = ~10 BW) in the landing phase. We conclude that CAI may not be related to the increased tibiofemoral contract forces or knee injury mechanisms during landings on tilted surfaces.

Description

Keywords

ankle sprain, computer simulation, musculoskeletal model, impact injuries, Health and Human Performance

Citation

Li, Y., Wang, H., & Simpson, K. J. (2020). Chronic ankle instability does not influence tibiofemoral contact forces during drop landings. Proceedings of the 13th Conference of the International Sports Engineering Association, 49(1), 5.

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© 2020 The Authors.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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