Abstract
This study had two purposes. The first purpose of the study was to compare the electromyographic(EMG) and dynamic characteristics in injured and non-injured legs during the one-legged heel-raise test after a unilateral Achilles repair. The second purpose was to determine the correlations between the EMG results and the dynamic characteristics and between the characteristics in the eccentric phase and jumping distance. Twenty-six participants who underwent an Achilles repair between 4 and 12 months prior to the measurement were recruited to perform the following bilateral tests: (1) one-legged heel-raise test with measurements of muscle activation, kinematics, and kinetics and (2) one-legged forward jumping. During the heel-raise exercise, there were increases of the EMG amplitudes in the soleus and tibialis anterior muscles, lower ankle joint angle and angular velocity, lower normalized ground reaction force, and mechanical work in the repaired legs in comparison to the non-injured legs. The EMG results of the medial gastrocnemius and soleus muscles correlated with the dynamic results (rs = 0.467 and −0.537). Furthermore, the dynamic data in the eccentric phase were correlated with the jumping performance (rs = 0.575 and −0.471). It is concluded the soleus muscle undergoes neuromechanical changes, including changes in EMG and dynamic characteristics, and changes affecting jumping performance.
Highlights
This article is an open access articleAchilles tendon ruptures frequently result in long-term deficits in muscle strength and ankle functions [1,2,3,4]
This study focused on the neuromechanical deficits in one-legged heel-raise (OLHR) tests and, recruited only patients who were recovering from an Achilles tendon rupture sustained within the last 12 months [5]
During the concentric and eccentric phases of the heel-raise exercise, there were increases of the root mean square (RMS) EMG amplitudes in the soleus and tibialis anterior muscles (Table 2, p’s ranged between 0.043 and 0.002), lower ankle joint angle (p’s ranged between 0.145 and
Summary
This article is an open access articleAchilles tendon ruptures frequently result in long-term deficits in muscle strength and ankle functions [1,2,3,4]. The limb symmetry index (LSI) of average heel-rise work in the OLHR test between involved and non-involved legs one year after Achilles tendon rupture was reported to be correlated with kinetic variables during hopping, such as LSI plantarflexion power (force times velocity), six years after the injury [1]. This indicates that the musculotendinous factors that affect the performance of the OLRH test one year after a rupture may affect common functional activities, such as hopping, later on in injured legs.
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