Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-22-2018

Publication Title

Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine

Volume

6

Issue

6

First page number:

1

Last page number:

8

Abstract

Background: Despite the increasing incidence of Achilles tendon (AT) ruptures, there is a lack of information on the possible risks associated with regular running and walking for exercise after an injury. There are some known kinematic gait changes after an AT rupture, especially at the knee. However, it is not clear whether runners with AT ruptures may be at risk for secondary knee injuries during shod or barefoot running/walking. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to compare the kinematics and kinetics of barefoot walking and barefoot and shod running between athletes with a history of AT ruptures and a healthy control group. We hypothesized that there would be increased knee joint loads in the affected limb of the AT rupture group, especially during shod running. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: Ten patients who had undergone surgical treatment of a unilateral acute AT rupture (6.1 ± 3.7 years postoperatively) and 10 control participants were matched according to age, sex, physical activity, weight, height, and footfall type. The kinematics and kinetics of barefoot walking and barefoot and shod running were recorded using a high-speed motion capture system synchronized with force platforms. Results: The main outcome measures were lower extremity joint angles and moments during the stance phase of walking and running. After AT repair, athletes had increased internal knee abduction moments during shod and barefoot running compared with the healthy control group (P < .05, Z2 > 0.14). There were no significant differences in kinematics and kinetics during walking between the AT rupture and healthy control groups (P ≥ .05). Conclusion: After an AT rupture, athletes had increased internal knee abduction moments during running compared with the healthy control group. Clinical Relevance: The increased abduction loads on the knee in patients with an AT rupture could lead to further running-related injuries. However, barefoot walking may be used as a proprioceptive exercise without an increased risk of overuse injuries in these patients.

Keywords

Proprioceptive exercise; Barefoot; Shod; Gait; Internal abduction moment

Disciplines

Kinesiology

File Format

application/pdf

File Size

228 Kb

Language

English

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Download

UNLV article access

Search your library

Included in

Kinesiology Commons

Share

COinS