Abstract
Muscle length is known as the length at which muscle is able to generate the maximum amount of force. This length is determined by the joint angle corresponding to that muscle. Length of muscle is an important parameter of length-tension relationship. Muscle functions and its mechanics helps in surgical decision making, to establish primary ergonomic advice recommendations and to form a structure of recovery program using the benefits of length-tension relation. Understanding the optimal muscle length as well as its comparison between the extremities is very important as a part of examination in physiotherapy, particularly in the cases of musculoskeletal disorders. Several tests are available for testing the muscle length. However standardize and reliable tests are been chosen to prevent the error while testing as such measurement of hamstring, iliopsoas, rectus femoris and gastrocnemius length is been acquired through standard goniometer. The methods used for the assessment comprised of; active knee extension (AKE) tests the hamstrings, Thomas and modified Thomas test to evaluate iliopsoas and rectus femoris while prone, figure-four position accompanied by dorsiflexion for gastrocnemius. Many studies have done and their results had shown that there was difference in the lengths of muscle of lower extremity which was assessed in different players along with that normative data about the length of muscle was established. However there is paucity of study on the muscle length testing of individuals who are completely normal who are not having previous history of trauma to their lower limbs and those who are not an athlete.
Highlights
One important feature of the skeletal muscle is the length tension relationship that reflects possible strength with relevancy the length of muscle
The methods used for the assessment comprised of; active knee extension (AKE) tests the hamstrings, Thomas and modified Thomas test to evaluate iliopsoas and rectus femoris while prone, figure-four position accompanied by dorsiflexion for gastrocnemius
Knowledge of various aspects of muscle contraction together with its mechanics and physiology is important since it plays a vital role during surgical procedures wherein the optimal length reflects how efficient surgical process could be, it helps in designing primary guidelines for ergonomic advice and in structuring a rehabilitation program that would help to provide more benefit using the advantages of length-tension relationship for an individual muscle
Summary
This work was carried out in collaboration among all authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. (1) Dr Aurora Martínez Romero, Juarez University, Mexico. (1) Deepti Majumdar, Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), India. (2) Aung Aung New, University of Medical Technology, Myanmar. (3) Azar Moezy, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Iran
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