Knee joint angle reproduction was measured without loading of the quadriceps and during concentric quadriceps contractions at 20 % of maximal voluntary contraction. The threshold of movement detection was measured. The reproducibility of the methods and the effect of an acute ACL rupture < 10 wks post-injury were examined. A test-retest protocol with a 1 wk hiatus was conducted on 15 healthy subjects. Side-to-side differences were tested in 10 patients with acute ACL rupture. The test-retest protocol did not show any significant differences and yielded correlations of r = 0.7 - 0.9 (p < 0.01) and coefficients of variations of 5.7 - 13.0 %. No side-to-side differences were detected in the ACL subjects. Quadriceps loaded; injured 3.96 ± 2.21°, uninjured 4.7 ± 1.23°, unloaded; injured 2.85 ± 0.56°, uninjured 2.92 ± 1.20°. Threshold of movement detection; injured 1.48 ± 0.81°, uninjured 1.44 ± 0.65°. Therefore, it may be questioned if the ACL itself plays a major role in proprioception performance as it is commonly measured in the laboratory.
Key words:
Anterior cruciate ligament - proprioception.
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