Abstract
Background
Medial tibial stress syndrome is a common sports related injury. Altered foot kinematics can be a risk factor for the injury. Since foot segments can move independently, intersegment coordination is important for proper foot function. This study aimed to compare the foot intersegmental coordination pattern and single segment kinematics between women lacrosse players with and without a history of medial tibial stress syndrome during drop jump.
Methods
Nine players with a medial tibial stress syndrome history and 12 players with no history were enrolled. Foot kinematics, including angle at landing and peak angle and excursion at the rearfoot, midfoot, and forefoot during single-leg drop jumps were analyzed. Each segment motion data from landing to leaping was time-scaled to 100% to analyze the intersegmental coordination with a modified vector coding technique. Instant intersegmental coordination of every 1% was classified into four patterns (in-phase, two segments rotate in the same direction with similar amplitudes; anti-phase, two segments rotate in opposite directions; proximal phase, proximal segment dominantly rotates in the same direction compared to the distal segment; and distal phase, distal segment dominantly rotates in the same direction compared to the proximal segment). The percentage of intersegmental coordination pattern and kinematics in each segment were compared between the groups using the Student’s t test.
Results
Groups with a history of medial stress syndrome showed a significantly higher percentage of proximal phase between the rearfoot and midfoot in the sagittal (Mean ± SD; history, 52.0 ± 18.5%, no history, 29.3 ± 16.7%; p = 0.005) and coronal planes (history, 43.0 ± 26.1%, no history, 15.9 ± 9.1%; p = 0.008). Dorsiflexion excursion (history, 34.8 ± 4.7°, no history, 29.6 ± 2.1°; p = 0.002) were significantly larger in a history of medial tibial stress syndrome group compared to no history group.
Conclusions
Rearfoot dominant motion pattern relative to the midfoot may be related to medial tibial stress syndrome. Intersegmental coordination analysis may be useful for detecting abnormal foot coordination patterns.
Ankle and toe muscle strength characteristics in runners with a history of medial tibial stress syndrome
