Joint movement variability during landing in patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Rapid knee valgus and knee internal rotation motions in the initial phase of landing are the known mechanisms for anterior cruciate ligament injury, and many studies have been investigated on knee joint peak angle during landing. However, the variability in joint movement during landing has not been fully investigated. This study aimed to compare the coefficient of variation of lower extremity range of motion in patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and healthy subjects during landing.

In this cross-sectional study, 54 patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and 44 healthy subjects were enrolled. All participants underwent six trials of single-leg hop landing for maximum safe horizontal distance. The kinematic variables were the coefficient of variation during two discrete (0.05 after initial contact and maximum knee flexion) time points for selected three-dimensional hip and knee joint range of motion. Comparisons were performed between the two groups.

Compared with healthy subjects, patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction had greater the coefficient of variation in hip internal/external rotation range of motion (patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction had 41.9%, healthy subjects had 25.5%; P=0.0018; effect size: 0.32) and knee internal/external rotation range of motion (patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction had 68.4%; healthy subjects had 48.1%; P=0.0014; effect size: 0.32) for periods that spanned 0.05 s from the initial contact.

Patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction could be disadvantageous in ability to control and adapt hip and knee joint rotations when controlling landings.