Single‐leg drop landing motor control strategies following acute ankle sprain injury. Issue 4 (27th June 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Doherty, C.; Bleakley, C.; Hertel, J.; Caulfield, B.; Ryan, J.; Delahunt, E.
• Is Part Of: Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports. Volume 25:Issue 4(2015)
• Page Start: 525
• Page End: 533
• Publication Date: 2014-06-27
• Subjects: Sports medicine -- Periodicals; Sports -- Physiological aspects -- Periodicals; Sports -- Periodicals; 617.1027
• DOI: 10.1111/sms.12282
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0905-7188

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>No research currently exists investigating the effect of acute injury on single‐limb landing strategies. The aim of the current study was to analyze the coordination strategies of participants in the acute phase of lateral ankle sprain (LAS) injury. Thirty‐seven participants with acute, first‐time LAS and 19 uninjured participants completed a single‐leg drop landing task on both limbs. Three‐dimensional kinematic (angular displacement) and sagittal plane kinetic (moment‐of‐force) data were acquired for the joints of the lower extremity from 200 ms pre‐initial contact (IC) to 200 ms post‐IC. The peak magnitude of the vertical component of the ground reaction force (GRF) was also computed. Injured participants displayed a bilateral increase in hip flexion, with altered transverse plane kinematic profiles at the knee and ankle for both limbs (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05). This coincided with a reduction in the net‐supporting flexor moment of the lower extremity (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05) and magnitude of the peak vertical GRF for the injured limb (21.82 ± 2.44 N/kg vs 24.09 ± 2.77 N/kg; <italic>P</italic> = 0.013) in injured participants compared to control participants. These results demonstrate that compensatory movement strategies are utilized by participants with acute LAS to successfully reduce the impact forces of landing.</p> </abstract>