Gait analysis in patients with chronic anterior cruciate ligament injury

Abstract

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are relatively common in young athletes and quite often require surgical reconstruction. The purpose of the ACL reconstruction is to achieve stability in the entire range of motion of the knee and to re-establish a normal gait pattern. For this study, we examined nineteen adult men. Subjects walked along a pathway at their own speed. Motion curves were obtained based on the kinematic data collected using the OptiTrack system with six infrared cameras. Anteriorposterior tibia translation, as the leading ACL pathological parameter, was indirectly determined by monitoring the difference in the length of the distance between markers positioned at the femoral lateral epicondyle and at the tuberosity of the tibia in space and in the sagittal plane. Additionally, the angle of the internal-external rotation was monitored using the gradient of the tangent line of the motion curve. Anterior-posterior tibia translation and internal-external rotation were significantly different after reconstruction surgery compared with preoperational measurements. Preoperational measurements included the maximal values of the AP translation and IE rotation in the early stance phase of the gait cycle. An increase of the AP translation and IE rotation values may cause degeneration of the cartilage. These results reveal that a more precise diagnosis of the ligament instability can be made, providing relevant indicators for the type of treatment.