A biomechanical comparison of dominant and non-dominant limbs during a side-step cutting task

Numerous studies have investigated anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk by examining gender differences in knee and hip biomechanics during a side-step cutting manoeuvre since it is known that ACL injury often occurs during such a task. Recent investigations have also examined lower extremity (LE) biomechanics during side-step cutting in individuals following ACL reconstruction (ACLR). Common research practice is to compare knee and hip biomechanics of the dominant limb between groups but this can add considerable complexity for clinicians and researchers. At this time, it is not known if there is a difference in LE biomechanics between the dominant and non-dominant limb during side-step cutting. Three-dimensional kinematics and kinetics were collected while 31 healthy participants performed five, side-step cutting manoeuvres with the dominant and non-dominant limbs. Knee and hip variables examined are those commonly investigated in ACL injury literature. There were no differences between limbs in all but one variable (knee internal rotation). These results demonstrate that healthy individuals exhibit little side-to-side differences in certain LE biomechanics when performing a side-step cutting manoeuvre. These findings can be utilised by clinicians when conducting dynamic evaluations of their ACLR patients and when developing injury prevention and rehabilitation programmes.