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Measures of neuromuscular control, postural stability may predict second ACL injury
Paterno MV. Am J Sports Med. doi:10.1177/0363546510376053
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Biomechanical measures during landing and postural stability are predictors of a second ACL injury after an athlete returns to sport, according to cohort study results.
In this trial, 56 athletes who had ACL reconstruction underwent a prospective mechanical screening before they returned to pivoting and cutting sports. Mark V. Paterno, PT, MS, SCS, ATC, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and colleagues performed 3-D motion analysis during a drop vertical jump maneuver and assessed postural stability and lower extremity joint kinematics and kinetics.
At 12-month follow-up, 13 athletes had sustained a second ACL injury. The researchers found that transverse plane hip kinetics and frontal plane knee kinematics during landing, saggital plane knee moments at landing and postural stability deficits predicted a second injury (C statistic=.94) with .92 sensitivity and .88 specificity.
An increase in total frontal plane (valgus) movement, greater asymmetry in internal knee extensor moment at initial contact and a deficit in single-leg postural stability of the involved limb measured by the Biodex stability system were specific predictive parameters.
“Hip rotation moment independently predicted second ACL injury (C=.81) with high sensitivity (.77) and specificity (.81),” the authors wrote.