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The Effect of Direction and Reaction on the Neuromuscular and Biomechanical Characteristics of the Knee During Tasks That Simulate the Noncontact Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Mechanism

From the Neuromuscular Research Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

^* Address correspondence to Timothy C. Sell, PhD, PT, University of Pittsburgh, Neuromuscular Research Laboratory, 3200 South Water Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203 (e-mail: tcs15{at}pitt.edu).

Background: Jumping and landing tasks that have a change in direction have been implicated as a mechanism of noncontact anterior cruciate ligament injury. Yet, to date, neuromuscular and biomechanical research has focused primarily on straight landing tasks during planned jumps.

Hypothesis: Lateral and reactive jumps increase the neuromuscular and biomechanical demands placed on the anterior cruciate ligament, and women perform these tasks differently from men.

Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.

Methods: A total of 18 male and 17 female healthy high school basketball players underwent an analysis of the knee during planned and reactive 2-legged stop-jump tasks in 3 different directions that included novel methodology to incorporate a reactive component. Ground-reaction forces, joint kinematics, joint kinetics, and electromyographic activity were assessed during the tasks.

Results: Jump direction and task (planned or reactive) significantly affected joint angles, ground-reaction forces, knee joint moments, and proximal anterior tibia shear forces; female players demonstrated different kinematic, kinetic, and electromyographic characteristics during these tasks.

Conclusion and Clinical Relevance: Jump direction significantly influenced knee biomechanics, suggesting that lateral jumps are the most dangerous of the stop-jumps. Reactive jumps were also significantly different, suggesting differences between planned laboratory experiments and actual athletic competition. The results of this study indicate that directional and reactive jumps should be included in research methodology and injury-prevention programs.

Key Words: anterior cruciate ligament • biomechanics • knee

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