Hip Kinematics During a Stop-Jump Task in Patients With Chronic Ankle Instability

Abstract

Context: Chronic ankle instability (CAI) commonly develops after lateral ankle sprain. Movement pattern differences at proximal joints may play a role in instability.Objective: To determine whether people with mechanical ankle instability (MAI) or functional ankle instability (FAI) exhibited different hip kinematics and kinetics during a stop-jump task compared with "copers."Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Sports medicine research laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: Sixty-three recreational athletes, 21 (11 men, 10 women) per group, matched for sex, age, height, mass, and limb dominance. All participants reported a history of a moderate to severe ankle sprain. The participants with MAI and FAI reported 2 or more episodes of giving way at the ankle in the last year and decreased functional ability; copers did not. The MAI group demonstrated clinically positive anterior drawer and talar tilt tests, whereas the FAI group and copers did not.Intervention(s): Participants performed a maximum-speed approach run and a 2-legged stop jump followed by a maximum vertical jump. Main Outcome Measure(s):An electromagnetic tracking device synchronized with a force plate collected data during the stance phase of a 2-legged stop jump. Hip motion was measured from initial contact to takeoff into the vertical jump. Group differences in hip kinematics and kinetics were assessed.Results: The MAI group demonstrated greater hip flexion at initial contact and at maximum (P = .029 and P = .017, respectively) and greater hip external rotation at maximum (P = .035) than the coper group. The MAI group also demonstrated greater hip flexion displacement than both the FAI (P = .050) and coper groups (P = .006). No differences were noted between the FAI and coper groups in hip kinematic variables or among any of the groups in ground reaction force variables.Conclusions: The MAI group demonstrated different hip kinematics than the FAI and coper groups. Proximal joint motion may be affected by ankle joint function and laxity, and clinicians may need to assess proximal joints after repeated ankle sprains.

Coordination and symmetry patterns during the drop vertical jump, 6‐months after first‐time lateral ankle sprain

“…Terminal (landing) and non‐terminal dynamic (jumping/hopping) movement tasks constrain participants in contrasting ways, and directly comparing the strategies used to complete these tasks must be done with caution. This is evidenced by the fact that Gribble and Robinson actually observed less knee flexion at IC during a jump‐landing task, which is in contrast to our findings, yet they observed no differences in hip kinematics, in agreement with our findings, but in contrast to the findings of Brown et al during a stop‐jump task . Importantly, none of the aforementioned studies of CAI populations evaluated movement patterns on the uninvolved limb, making the bilateral nature of the adaptive movements observed in the current study contextually unique.…”

Selection Criteria for Patients With Chronic Ankle Instability in Controlled Research: A Position Statement of the International Ankle Consortium

“…28,47 A recent advancement in the CAI literature has been the stratification of individuals, based on structural and functional impairments associated with ankle instability. Multiple studies by Brown et al [6][7][8] compared sensorimotor and biomechanical measures between patients classified as having mechanical ankle instability, functional ankle instability, and no measurable ankle instability or repeated injury (copers). Although the presence of mechanical laxity was associated with some proximal joint sensorimotor alterations and increases in ground reaction forces during landing tasks compared with the other groups, these differences were not observed consistently.…”

Selection Criteria for Patients With Chronic Ankle Instability in Controlled Research: A Position Statement of the International Ankle Consortium

“…The International Ankle Consortium endorses the summary statements from past International Ankle Symposia that have presented the major findings and updates from the content of the meetings. 35,[47][48][49] Additionally, the International Ankle Consortium establishes position statements, such as this one, to endorse consistent standards for research of and clinical management of ankle joint conditions among the physically active. This position statement will provide background and discusses the existing evidence to support a set of specific selection criteria for patients with chronic/functional ankle instability with the goal to improve the quality of research and outcomes related to this specific ankle condition.…”