Premium
Symmetry and sex differences in knee kinematics and ACL elongation in healthy collegiate athletes during high‐impact activities revealed through dynamic biplane radiography
Author(s) -
Nishida Kyohei,
Xu Caiqi,
Gale Tom,
Anderst William,
Fu Freddie
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of orthopaedic research®
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.041
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1554-527X
pISSN - 0736-0266
DOI - 10.1002/jor.25162
Subject(s) - anterior cruciate ligament , acl injury , kinematics , medicine , elongation , athletes , physical therapy , orthodontics , physical medicine and rehabilitation , anatomy , physics , materials science , classical mechanics , ultimate tensile strength , metallurgy
The objectives of this study were to determine symmetry and sex differences in knee kinematics and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) elongation waveforms in healthy athletes without a history of a knee injury during fast running, drop jump, and 180° internal/external rotation hops. It was hypothesized that knee abduction angle and ACL relative elongation would be greater in women than in men during all activities. Bilateral knee kinematics and ACL relative elongation were determined in 19 collegiate athletes using dynamic biplane radiography. Sex differences in kinematics and ACL relative elongation waveforms were identified using statistical parametric mapping. Average absolute side‐to‐side differences (SSD A ) in kinematics and ACL relative elongation waveforms were determined for each activity. Women had up to 2.3° (all p < 0.05) less knee adduction angle and had greater ACL relative elongation (max. 4.8%–9.2%; all p < 0.01) than men during all activities, in support of the hypotheses. SSD A in kinematics were 1.4 mm and 5.5° or less in all components of translation and rotation, respectively, while SSD A in ACL relative elongation was 3.6% or less across all activities. Greater ACL relative elongation across a variety of activities may make women more susceptible to ACL injury than men. This study provides valuable reference data for identifying abnormal asymmetry in knee kinematics and ACL elongation in athletes after the ACL injury. These novel results improve our understanding of ACL elongation during demanding athletic activities and may help guide the development of sex‐specific risk screening metrics, return to play assessments, and rehabilitation protocols after the ACL injury.