Experimental quadriceps muscle pain impairs knee joint control during walking

2007 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Henriksen ◽  
Tine Alkjær ◽  
Hans Lund ◽  
Erik B. Simonsen ◽  
Thomas Graven-Nielsen ◽  
...  

Pain is a cardinal symptom in musculoskeletal diseases involving the knee joint, and aberrant movement patterns and motor control strategies are often present in these patients. However, the underlying neuromuscular mechanisms linking pain to movement and motor control are unclear. To investigate the functional significance of muscle pain on knee joint control during walking, three-dimensional gait analyses were performed before, during, and after experimentally induced muscle pain by means of intramuscular injections of hypertonic saline (5.8%) into vastus medialis (VM) muscle of 20 healthy subjects. Isotonic saline (0.9%) was used as control. Surface electromyography (EMG) recordings of VM, vastus lateralis (VL), biceps femoris, and semitendinosus muscles were synchronized with the gait analyses. During experimental muscle pain, the loading response phase peak knee extensor moments were attenuated, and EMG activity in the VM and VL muscles was reduced. Compressive forces, adduction moments, knee joint kinematics, and hamstring EMG activity were unaffected by pain. Interestingly, the observed changes persisted when the pain had vanished. The results demonstrate that muscle pain modulated the function of the quadriceps muscle, resulting in impaired knee joint control and joint instability during walking. The changes are similar to those observed in patients with knee pain. The loss of joint control during and after pain may leave the knee joint prone to injury and potentially participate in the chronicity of musculoskeletal problems, and it may have clinically important implications for rehabilitation and training of patients with knee pain of musculoskeletal origin.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Norbury ◽  
Samuel Smith ◽  
Mark Burnley ◽  
Megan Judge ◽  
Alexis Mauger

Intro: Non-local muscle pain may impair neuromuscular fatigue and endurance performance, but the mechanisms are unknown. This study examined the effects of muscle pain on neuromuscular performance of the contralateral limb. Methods: On separate visits, nine participants completed an isometric time to task failure (TTF) of the right knee extensors after intramuscular injection of isotonic saline (CTRL) or hypertonic saline (HYP) into the left vastus lateralis. Measures of neuromuscular fatigue were taken before, during and after the TTF using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and peripheral nerve stimulation. Results: Mean pain intensity was greater in the left leg in HYP (3.3 ± 1.9) compared to CTRL (0.4 ± 0.7) (P < 0.001) which reduced TTF by 9.8% in HYP (4.54 ± 0.56 min) compared to CTRL (5.07 ± 0.77 min) (P = 0.005). Maximum voluntary force was not different between conditions (all P > 0.05). Voluntary activation was lower at minute 3 of the TTF in HYP compared to CTRL (P = 0.016). No difference was identified between conditions for doublet amplitude (all P < 0.05). Furthermore, no difference in TMS responses between conditions was observed. Conclusion: Non-local pain impairs endurance performance of the contralateral limb. This impairment in performance is likely due to the faster attainment of the sensory tolerance limit from a greater amount of sensory feedback originating from the non-exercising, but painful, left leg.


2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 190-191
Author(s):  
A. Shimada ◽  
L. Baad-Hansen ◽  
P. Svensson

AbstractBackground/aimsMuscular pain often impairs masticatory function in Temporomandibular disorder patients. The specific aim of this study was to investigate how the bite force during mastication is influenced by experimental muscle pain caused by infusion of glutamate into the masseter muscle.Methods12 healthy adults participated, after providing informed consent. Customized metal frames of the intraoral bite force sensor were manufactured for all subjects, and placed on their preferred chewing side. To induce experimental pain, a sterile solution of glutamate (0.5 M) was infused into the posterior part of the masseter muscle. Isotonic saline (0.9%) was infused as a control (randomized, cross-over design). During chewing three different kinds of test food (two different size carrots and gummy), bite force, electromyographic (EMG) activity of bilateral masseter muscle and anterior temporalis muscle were recorded. The first and last five masticatory cycles were used for analyses. The outcome parameters were as follows; Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain, impulse and duration from the bite force signal, duration and amplitude of EMG. Three-way ANOVAs with food (3 levels), sessions (5 levels: baseline, during glutamate, baseline 2, during isotonic saline, follow-up), cycles (2 × 5 levels) were carried out.ResultsGlutamate caused moderate levels of pain (mean VAS: 2.4 ± 0.9) whereas isotonic saline only caused low levels of pain (Mean VAS: 0.7 ± 0.5). The ANOVA of impulse data, as well as most EMG data, demonstrated a significant effect of session. Post hoc tests showed significantly higher impulse values of both the first and last five cycles in the glutamate session compared to baseline whereas the EMG activity was significantly decreased (P < 0.05).ConclusionSurprisingly, experimental pain induced by glutamate increased the bite force during mastication coupled with a decrease in EMG activity. This indicates a major reorganization of the motor control during painful mastication.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7_suppl3) ◽  
pp. 2325967121S0015
Author(s):  
Dustin R. Grooms ◽  
Jed A. Diekfuss ◽  
Alexis B. Slutsky-Ganesh ◽  
Cody R. Criss ◽  
Manish Anand ◽  
...  

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is secondary to a multifactorial etiology encompassing anatomical, biological, mechanical, and neurological factors. The nature of the injury being primarily due to non-contact mechanics further implicates neural control as a key injury-risk factor, though it has received considerably less study. Purpose: To determine the contribution of neural activity to injury-risk mechanics in ecological sport-specific VR landing scenarios. Methods: Ten female high-school soccer players (15.5±0.85 years; 165.0±6.09 cm; 59.1±11.84 kg) completed a neuroimaging session to capture neural activity during a bilateral leg press and a 3D biomechanics session performing a header within a VR soccer scenario. The bilateral leg press involved four 30 s blocks of repeated bilateral leg presses paced to a metronome beat of 1.2 Hz with 30 s rest between blocks. The VR soccer scenario simulated a corner-kick, requiring the participant to jump and head a virtual soccer ball into a virtual goal (Figure 1A-E). Initial contact and peak knee flexion and abduction angles were extracted during the landing from the header as injury-risk variables of interest and were correlated with neural activity. Results: Evidenced in Table 1 and Figure 1 (bottom row), increased initial contact abduction, increased peak abduction, and decreased peak flexion were associated with increased sensory, visual-spatial, and cerebellar activity (r2= 0.42-0.57, p corrected < .05, z max > 3.1, table & figure 1). Decreased initial contact flexion was associated with increased frontal cortex activity (r2= 0.68, p corrected < .05, z max > 3.1). Conclusion: Reduced neural efficiency (increased activation) of key regions that integrate proprioceptive, visual-spatial, and neurocognitive activity for motor control may influence injury-risk mechanics in sport. The regions found to increase in activity in relation to higher injury-risk mechanics are typically activated to assist with spatial navigation, environmental interaction, and precise motor control. The requirement for athletes to increase their activity for more basic knee motor control may result in fewer neural resources available to maintain knee joint alignment, allocate environmental attention, and handle increased motor coordination demands. These data indicate that strategies to enhance efficiency of visual-spatial and cognitive-motor control during high demand sporting activities is warranted to improve ACL injury-risk reduction. [Figure: see text][Table: see text]


2020 ◽  
pp. 036354652098007
Author(s):  
Elanna K. Arhos ◽  
Jacob J. Capin ◽  
Thomas S. Buchanan ◽  
Lynn Snyder-Mackler

Background: After anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction (ACLR), biomechanical asymmetries during gait are highly prevalent, persistent, and linked to posttraumatic knee osteoarthritis. Quadriceps strength is an important clinical measure associated with preoperative gait asymmetries and postoperative function and is a primary criterion for return-to-sport clearance. Evidence relating symmetry in quadriceps strength with gait biomechanics is limited to preoperative and early rehabilitation time points before return-to-sport training. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose was to determine the relationship between symmetry in isometric quadriceps strength and gait biomechanics after return-to-sport training in athletes after ACLR. We hypothesized that as quadriceps strength symmetry increases, athletes will demonstrate more symmetric knee joint biomechanics, including tibiofemoral joint loading during gait. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Of 79 athletes enrolled in the ACL-SPORTS Trial, 76 were participants in this study after completing postoperative rehabilitation and 10 return-to-sport training sessions (mean ± SD, 7.1 ± 2.0 months after ACLR). All participants completed biomechanical walking gait analysis and isometric quadriceps strength assessment using an electromechanical dynamometer. Quadriceps strength was calculated using a limb symmetry index (involved limb value / uninvolved limb value × 100). The biomechanical variables of interest included peak knee flexion angle, peak knee internal extension moment, sagittal plane knee excursion at weight acceptance and midstance, quadriceps muscle force at peak knee flexion angle, and peak medial compartment contact force. Spearman rank correlation (ρ) coefficients were used to determine the relationship between limb symmetry indexes in quadriceps strength and each biomechanical variable; alpha was set to .05. Results: Of the 76 participants, 27 (35%) demonstrated asymmetries in quadriceps strength, defined by quadriceps strength symmetry <90% (n = 23) or >110% (n = 4) (range, 56.9%-131.7%). For the biomechanical variables of interest, 67% demonstrated asymmetry in peak knee flexion angle; 68% and 83% in knee excursion during weight acceptance and midstance, respectively; 74% in internal peak knee extension moment; 57% in medial compartment contact force; and 74% in quadriceps muscle force. There were no significant correlations between quadriceps strength index and limb symmetry indexes for any biomechanical variable after return-to-sport training ( P > .129). Conclusion: Among those who completed return-to-sport training after ACLR, subsequent quadriceps strength symmetry was not correlated with the persistent asymmetries in gait biomechanics. After a threshold of quadriceps strength is reached, restoring strength alone may not ameliorate gait asymmetries, and current clinical interventions and return-to-sport training may not adequately target gait.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1780-1788
Author(s):  
Habaxi Kaken ◽  
Shanshan Wang ◽  
Wei Zhao ◽  
Baoerjiang Asihaer ◽  
Li Wang

This article studies the effects of arthroscopic imaging treatment and clinical rehabilitation of knee sports injuries. Arthroscopy was used to perform meniscus trimming and resection for 40 patients with knee sports injuries. The ages of the patients ranged from 20 to 60 years old. All patients received routine rehabilitation training such as continuous passive motion of the knee joint, biofeedback of the lower limbs, and air pressure therapy of the lower limbs. In addition, the control group was given muscle strength training, and the training began after the patients received the quadriceps muscle strength test. The removal of the joint cavity and the joint debridement has achieved satisfactory treatment results. In the experiment, the test cases were divided into two groups, and the sensor test platform was used for signal collection. Normal activities can be resumed 2 weeks after the operation. After a follow-up of 6 to 24 months, the knee joint pain disappeared, the joint was free of swelling, and the knee function was normal up to 93%. Arthroscopic reconstruction of the anterior and posterior cruciate ligament joint repair/reconstruction of the medial and posterolateral ligament knots is safe and feasible for the treatment of multiple ligament injuries of the knee joint. It has the advantages of less trauma and quick recovery. Early postoperative systemic and standardized rehabilitation exercises can obtain good knee joint function.


2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 827-831 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Wen ◽  
T. J. Tan ◽  
S. Rasheed

2000 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Scheidt ◽  
W. Zev Rymer

Changes were studied in neuromotor control that were evoked by constraining the motion of the elbow joint during planar, supported movements of the dominant arm in eight normal human subjects. Electromyograph (EMG) recordings from shoulder and arm muscles were used to determine whether the normal multijoint muscle activity patterns associated with reaching to a visual target were modified when the movement was reduced to a single-joint task, by pinning the elbow to a particular location in the planar work space. Three blocks of 150 movements each were used in the experiments. Subjects were presented with the unconstrained task in the first and third blocks with an intervening block of constrained trials. Kinematic, dynamic, and EMG measures of performance were compared across blocks. The imposition of the pin constraint caused predictable changes in kinematic performance, in that near-linear motions of the hand became curved. This was followed by changes in limb dynamic performance at the elbow. However, changes in EMG activity at the shoulder lagged the kinematic changes substantially (by about 15 trials). The gradual character of the changes in EMG timing does not support a primary role for segmental reflex action in mediating the transition between multijoint and single-joint control strategies. Furthermore, the scope and magnitude of these changes argues against the notion that human motor performance is driven by the optimization of muscle- or joint-related criteria alone. The findings are best described as reflecting the actions of a feedforward adaptive controller that has properties that are modified progressively according to the environmental state.


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