Neuromuscular efficiency of the vastus medialis obliquus in soccer athletes following an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Abstract

were right-handed and 31.3% had the dominant leg involved in the procedure. For the peak torque variable, the results for the involved and uninvolved knees were 258.67 � 40.75 Nm and 338.71 � 1.79 Nm at 60 � /s, respectively (p ¼0.92); and 143.33 � 25.12 Nm and 203.59 � 213.22 Nm at 300 � /s, respectively (p ¼0.27). For the activation of VMO, the results for the involved and uninvolved knees were 219.65 � 210.25 mV and 220.86 � 209.00 m Va t 60 � /s, respectively (p ¼0.98); and 215.29 � 210.71 mV and 216.00 � 209.33 m Va t300 � /s,respectively (p ¼0.99). There was nostatisticaldifference (p ¼0.39) between the NMEof both knees during knee extension at 60 � /s, with 1.00 � 0.76 mV/N m for the involved knee and 0.81 � 0.43 mV/N m for the uninvolved knee. There was no statisticaldifference(p ¼0.20)between the NMEofbothknees duringkneeextensionat300 � /s,with 1.07 � 0.26mV/N m forthe involvedkneeand0.96 � 0.21 mV/N m for the uninvolved knee. Conclusions: There was no difference in the neuromuscular efficiency of the VMO following ACL reconstruction in professional soccer athletes 4–6 months