Sex differences in knee biomechanics during unexpected cutting and their correlation with sensorimotor function

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Biomechanics
• Orthopedics

Background:

• Sex differences in athletic injuries, particularly anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, are well-documented.
• Understanding the biomechanical factors contributing to these differences is crucial for injury prevention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate sex-based differences in knee biomechanics during unexpected cutting maneuvers.
• To explore the correlation between these biomechanical variables and sensorimotor function (position sense, force sense) of the knee.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 16 male and 16 female athletes.
• Assessed knee biomechanics during six unexpected cutting tasks using a CON-TREX isokinetic dynamometer.
• Measured peak muscle force, position sense, and force sense of the dominant knee.

Main Results:

• Female athletes exhibited significantly higher knee valgus angles at initial contact and peak.
• Females demonstrated lower peak knee flexion angles and knee flexion moments compared to males.
• Quadriceps force sense errors correlated with peak knee valgus in both sexes; higher quadriceps strength related to greater knee flexion in females.

Conclusions:

• Female athletes display knee biomechanical patterns associated with elevated ACL injury risk compared to males.
• Impaired quadriceps strength and greater force sense deficits are linked to these high-risk biomechanical characteristics in female athletes.