Relationships between mechanical joint stability and somatosensory function in individuals with chronic ankle instability

ABSTRACT Introduction: Ankle sprains are recurrent injuries in basketball, hence more and more athletes are taping their ankles to promote joint stability, aiming at improving dynamic balance and, consequently, functional performance. Objective: To verify the effects of elastic and rigid athletic taping on the functional performance and level of comfort of basketball players with chronic ankle instability. Methods: Twenty-one athletes aged between 18 and 30 years (mean age 23.7 ± 3.2) with chronic ankle instability (CAI), verified using the Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool, were selected to take part in this study. The Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) and the Figure-of-8 hop test (F8) were applied unilaterally to assess functional performance, considering the ankle of greater instability in three situations: without athletic taping, with rigid athletic taping and with elastic athletic taping. A draw was held to determine the order in which the tests (held over a number of days) would be applied. A questionnaire was conducted to assess comfort on the same day the athletic tapes were applied. Results: There was no significant difference between the tests in any direction of the SEBT, but there was a significant difference in F8 between the rigid athletic taping x control and elastic athletic taping x control situations. In addition, the elastic athletic tape was considered significantly more comfortable than the rigid athletic tape. Conclusion: Athletic taping appears to effectively improve the dynamic balance and functional performance of athletes with CAI only in activities that cause considerable joint stress, as is the case in F8. Elastic athletic tape appears to be just as effective as rigid athletic tape in these situations, in addition to being a significantly more comfortable alternative. Levef of Evidence I; High quality randomized trial with statistically significant difference or no statistically significant difference but narrow confidence intervals.

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Mechanical Joint Laxity Associated With Chronic Ankle Instability

Sports Health A Multidisciplinary Approach ◽

10.1177/1941738110382392 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2 (6) ◽

pp. 452-459 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Mitchell L. Cordova ◽

JoEllen M. Sefton ◽

Tricia J. Hubbard

Keyword(s):

Ankle Instability ◽

Chronic Ankle Instability ◽

Joint Laxity ◽

Mechanical Joint

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Muscle Synergies in People With Chronic Ankle Instability During Anticipated and Unanticipated Cutting Tasks

Journal of Athletic Training ◽

10.4085/1062-6050-74-21 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hoon Kim ◽

Riann Palmieri-Smith ◽

Kristof Kipp

Keyword(s):

Tibialis Anterior ◽

Ankle Instability ◽

Neuromuscular Control ◽

Chronic Ankle Instability ◽

Medial Gastrocnemius ◽

Muscle Synergies ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Joint Stability ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Weighting Coefficients

Abstract Context: Although neuromuscular deficits in people with chronic ankle instability (CAI) have been identified, previous studies mostly investigated the activation of multiple muscles in isolation. Investigating muscle synergies in people with CAI would provide information about the coordination and control of neuromuscular activation strategies and could hold important information for understanding and rehabilitating neuromuscular deficits in this population. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate muscle synergies in people with CAI and healthy controls as they perform different cutting tasks. Design: Cross-sectional study Setting: Laboratory Participants: Eleven people with CAI (22 ± 3 years, 1.68 ± 0.11 m, 69.0 ± 19.1 kg) and 11 healthy controls (CON) (23 ± 4 years, 1.74 ± 0.11 m, 66.8 ± 15.5 kg) participated in the current study. Main Outcome Measures: Muscle synergies were extracted from the EMG of the soleus, medial gastrocnemius, lateral gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, and fibularis longus muscles during anticipated and unanticipated cutting tasks. The number of synergies, activation coefficients, and muscle-specific weighting coefficients were compared between groups and across tasks. Results: The number of muscle synergies were the same for each group and task. The CAI group exhibited significantly greater (p = 0.023) tibialis anterior weighting coefficients within Synergy 1 compared to the CON group. In addition, both groups exhibited greater fibularis longus (p = 0.029) weighting coefficients within Synergy 2 during unanticipated cutting compared to anticipated cutting. Conclusion: These results suggest that while both groups used a neuromuscular control strategy of similar complexity / dimensionality to perform the cutting tasks, people with CAI exhibited different muscle-specific weightings characterized by greater emphasis on tibialis anterior function within Synergy 1, which may reflect an effort to increase joint stability to compensate for the presence of ankle instability.

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