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The relationship between clinical measurements of lower extremity posture and tibial translation
Mark H Trimble1, Mark D Bishop, Bernadette D Buckley
1Department of Physical Therapy, University of Florida, P.O. Box 100154 HSC, Gainesville, FL 32610-0154, USA.
Objective:
The purpose of this investigation was to determine if postures of the lower extremity were related to the amount of anterior tibial translation.
Design:
Regression model of lower extremity postural measures used to predict the amount of tibial translation for a sample of convenience.
Background:
Retrospective studies have indicated a link between certain lower extremity postures and prediction of anterior cruciate ligament injury status. What is not clear is whether these lower extremity postures cause, or occur as a result of anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Methods:
Genu recurvatum, the thigh-foot angle, and navicular drop measures were obtained from the right leg of 43 uninjured college-aged subjects. Tibial translation was determined using a KT-1000 arthrometer. Gender related differences were determined with independent t-tests. Step-wise regression was performed to assess the relationship between postural measures and subject gender, and tibial translation.
Results:
Very good to excellent inter- and intra-rater reliability was found for the postural measures. There was greater tibial translation (P=0.01) in females. The final regression model indicated a moderate relationship between sex of the subject, navicular drop and tibial translation (r=0.551). Genu recurvatum and thigh-foot angle were not significant predictors of tibial translation. CONCLUSIONS; We concluded that foot pronation has a greater impact on the amount of tibial translation than genu recurvatum and torsion of the lower leg in anterior cruciate intact subjects.
Relevance:
Static clinical measures of lower extremity posture are commonly taken as predictors of outcome (both performance and injury). There may be little association between these static measures and dynamic performance.
