Force sense deficits in functionally unstable ankles

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether participants with functional ankle instability have deficits in force sense reproduction compared to uninjured participants. Twenty participants with no history of injury and 20 with functional ankle instability volunteered for this investigation. Participants in the instability group had a history of at least one ankle sprain and frequent episodes of giving way. Ankle force sense testing was performed at 10, 20, and 30% of eversion maximal voluntary isometric contraction. Ten trials were performed at each force. Absolute and variable errors were then calculated. We observed significant (p < 0.05) main effects for group for absolute and variable errors. Force sense absolute error was significantly greater in the functionally unstable ankles (3.7 AE 2.2 N) compared to uninjured ankles (2.8 AE 1.1 N). Variable error was also significantly greater in the functionally unstable ankles (3.2 AE 1.8 N) than the uninjured ankles (2.4 AE 0.8 N). Functional ankle instability is associated with deficits in an individual's ability to accurately reproduce a given force. This deficit may impair an individual's ability to set appropriate muscle force levels to provide stability to the joint. ß

Chronic Ankle Instability and Neural Excitability of the Lower Extremity

“…39 In addition, increased selfreported disability was associated with more errors when attempting to contract ankle-evertor muscles to match force loads at a low percentage of MVIC. 40,41 The corticospinal differences that we observed for the fibularis longus at lower stimulus intensities (100%-105% of AMT) may have been the mechanism dictating the inability of CAI patients to accurately reproduce sufficient voluntary muscle tension during submaximal contractions.…”

Beeinträchtigungen der sensomotorischen Kontrolle bei funktioneller Sprunggelenkinstabilität

“…Weitere Studien stellten bei Probanden mit einseitiger Instabilität im Seitenvergleich kinästhetische Defizite am instabilen Sprunggelenk fest [18,19], während Hubbard und Kaminsky [20] keine Differenzen im Seitenvergleich verifizieren konnten. Zur Untersuchung des Kraftsinns bei Patienten mit funktioneller Sprunggelenkinstabilität liegen ebenfalls nur wenige Arbeiten vor [21][22][23][24]. Diese konzentrieren sich auf Kraftreproduktionsaufgaben der Peronealmuskulatur.…”

“…Diese konzentrieren sich auf Kraftreproduktionsaufgaben der Peronealmuskulatur. Defizite konnten sowohl intraindividuell, also zwischen dem betroffenen und asymptomatischen Gelenk [21,22], als auch im Vergleich zu gesunden Kontrollprobanden [23,24] in jüngerer Vergangenheit mehrfach metaanalytisch zusammengefasst [14,[25][26][27]. Übereinstimmend wurden bei Personen mit funktioneller Sprunggelenkinstabilität Beeinträchtigungen der statischen und dynamischen posturalen Kontrolle nachgewiesen, die berichteten Effektstärken sind als klein bis moderat einzuschätzen (standardisierte Mittelwertdifferenz 0,3-0,6).…”

Is there “arthrogenic inhibition” of cutaneous reflexes in subjects with functional ankle instability?

“…Development of FAI might result from one or a combination of insufficiencies such as ankle muscle strength deficits (Munn et al, 2003), force sense deficits (Docherty and Arnold, 2008), or proprioceptive deficits (Munn et al, 2010;Richie, 2001) that contribute to a poor balance control. Furthermore, ankle trauma not only has local implications, but also leads to changes in muscle recruitment order (Delahunt et al One commonly applied measure to assess sensorimotor deficits is evaluation of reflexes.…”