Abstract
The possibility of measuring predictive factors to discriminate athletes at higher risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury still represents an open research question. We performed an observational study with thirteen female basketball players who performed monopodalic jumps and single-leg squat tests. One of them suffered from an ACL injury after the first test session. Data gathered from twelve participants, who did not suffer from ACL injury, were used for a reliability analysis. Parameters related to leg stability, load absorption capability and leg mobility showed good-to-excellent reliability. Path length, root mean square of the acceleration and leg angle with respect to the vertical axis revealed themselves as possible predictive factors to identify athletes at higher risk. Results confirm that six months after reconstruction represents the correct time for these athletes to return to playing. Furthermore, the training of leg mobility and load absorption capability could allow athletes to reduce the probability of new injuries.
Highlights
In recent years, the introduction of sensor-based protocols as screening tools for the identification of reliable metrics aimed at assessing the risk of injury in élite players has become necessary [1]
With the aim of investigating the identification of quantitative measurements able to identify anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk and monitor the time needed for injured athletes to return to play, we conducted a reliability analysis on parameters related to leg stability, load absorption and leg mobility when performing consecutive monopodalic jumps and single-leg squats
Our results showed a significant deterioration in motor performance in terms of load absorption capability and leg mobility both nine and twelve months after surgery; physiological behavior is maintained for leg stability
Summary
The introduction of sensor-based protocols as screening tools for the identification of reliable metrics aimed at assessing the risk of injury in élite players has become necessary [1]. One of the most critical movements that causes the occurrence of an ACL injury is the landing phase after a jump [5,6,7,8,9]. When the landing phase is characterized by a short duration, a player must dampen the force of impact on the ground and, at the same time, they must release additional force to perform other movements, such as a change in direction and/or another upward jump. It is worth noting that previous studies have indicated that the most likely period for ACL injury occurrence is from 30 ms to 100 ms after contact time with the ground after a jump [10,11]
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