Association between sensorimotor function and lower limb biomechanics during a single-leg forward hop in athletes after ACL reconstruction.

Objectives

To compare sensorimotor function and single-leg forward hop biomechanics between return-to-sport (RTS)-cleared athletes after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) and healthy controls, and to examine sensorimotor-biomechanics associations in ACLR.

Design

Cross-sectional laboratory study; paired/independent t tests and Pearson correlations.

Setting

Human movement biomechanics laboratory.

Participants

Twenty-four athletes after ACL reconstruction (mean time since surgery: 19.7 ± 6.8 months) who had been cleared for return to sport (RTS), and twenty-four healthy controls.

Main outcome measures

Knee strength limb symmetry index (LSI), joint position sense absolute error (30° and 60°), and quadriceps/hamstrings force-sense error assessed using an isokinetic dynamometer, as well as hop-landing kinematics and kinetics assessed using a three-dimensional motion-capture system and force plate.

Results

Compared with controls, ACLR athletes showed greater quadriceps force-sense error (P = 0.011). The involved limb demonstrated lower peak knee flexion, knee flexion moment, and knee flexion power, and greater knee internal rotation angle than the uninvolved limb and controls (P