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Using muscle fatigue protocol as screening test may help identify EMTP
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The possibility of identifying a leg at risk for exertional medial tibial pain in a predisposed athlete may be increased by adding a muscle fatigue protocol to the single-legged drop jump as a screening test, according to study results.
Researchers tested 69 female students in a physical education program at the beginning of their first academic year and followed for 1 to 2 years. To assess injury follow-up, participants completed an online questionnaire every week and a retrospective control questionnaire every 3 months.
An experienced medical doctor made a diagnosis of exertional medial tibial pain (EMTP). Using Cox regression analysis, the researchers then identified potential risk factors for EMTP by comparing prefatigue and postfatigue data of uninjured participants with those with EMTP. The researchers compared both the leg that developed EMTP and the contralateral leg with legs of a matched control group.
Twenty-one participants were diagnosed with EMTP during injury follow-up. When comparing uninjured vs. EMTP participants, the researchers identified increased range of motion in the transverse plane (ROMT) of the hip during landing as a risk factor for the leg at risk for EMTP in a nonfatigued state; however, increased ROMT of the hip and pelvis during landing and increased ROMT of the thorax during push-off were identified in the fatigued state. Although increased ROMT of the knee during landing and decreased ROMT of the pelvis during push-off were identified as risk factors in the nonfatigued state for the leg not at risk for EMTP, the researchers found these factors were not significant in the fatigued state.
Disclosure: The research was funded by BOF-UGnet 05V00910.
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