Jumping performance differences among elite professional handball players with or without previous ACL reconstruction

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Orthopedics
• Biomechanics

Background:

• Handball places significant stress on the knee joint, increasing the risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries.
• Athletes with a history of ACL injury may experience persistent deficits in strength and jumping capacity, impacting performance and re-injury risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare unilateral and bilateral jumping abilities between elite handball athletes with a history of ACL reconstruction and uninjured controls.
• To identify potential long-term functional deficits in ACL-reconstructed handball players.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study involving 22 male and 21 female elite handball players, with 6 male and 6 female athletes in each group having undergone ACL reconstruction.
• Evaluation of jumping ability using a battery of bilateral and unilateral jump tests, including vertical bilateral drop jump (VBDJ) and unilateral triple hop for distance (UTHD).
• Statistical analysis using unpaired and paired t-tests to compare jump performance variables between ACL-reconstructed athletes and controls.

Main Results:

• ACL-reconstructed female handball players demonstrated significantly lower VBDJ contact times and UTHD distances on their reconstructed leg compared to uninjured controls.
• No significant differences in jumping variables were found between male ACL-reconstructed athletes and their uninjured counterparts.
• The observed deficits in female athletes persisted several years after ACL reconstruction and rehabilitation.

Conclusions:

• Elite female handball athletes with a history of ACL reconstruction exhibit persistent deficits in specific jumping metrics, including VBDJ and UTHD.
• These functional deficits in ACL-reconstructed female handball players may elevate the risk of subsequent ACL re-injury.
• Further research is warranted to explore sex-specific differences in long-term outcomes after ACL reconstruction in handball players.