Journal
JOURNAL OF ORTHOPAEDIC RESEARCH
Volume 37, Issue 1, Pages 104-112Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/jor.24141
Keywords
knee; muscle co-contraction; joint forces; musculoskeletal modeling; ACL
Categories
Funding
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health And Human Development [R01-HD087459]
- National Institute of Arthritis And Musculoskeletal And Skin Diseases [R01-AR046386, R01-AR048212]
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences [P30-GM103333, R37-HD037985, T32-HD007490, U54-GM104941]
- National Institute For Child Health And Human Development [F30-HD096830]
- Foundation for Physical Therapy
- Promotion of Doctoral Studies (PODS) - Level I Scholarship
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The mechanism of knee osteoarthritis development after anterior cruciate ligament injuries is poorly understood. The objective of this study was to evaluate knee gait variables, muscle co-contraction indices and knee joint loading in young subjects with anterior cruciate ligament deficiency (ACLD, n=36), versus control subjects (n=12). A validated, electromyography-informed model was used to estimate joint loading. For the involved limb of ACLD subjects versus control, muscle co-contraction indices were higher for the medial (p=0.018, effect size=0.93) and lateral (p=0.028, effect size=0.83) agonist-antagonist muscle pairs. Despite higher muscle co-contraction, medial compartment contact force was lower for the involved limb, compared to both the uninvolved limb (mean difference=0.39 body weight, p=0.009, effect size=0.70) as well as the control limb (mean difference=0.57 body weight, p=0.007, effect size=1.14). Similar observations were made for total contact force. For involved versus uninvolved limb, the ACLD group demonstrated lower vertical ground reaction force (mean difference=0.08 body weight, p=0.010, effect size=0.70) and knee flexion moment (mean difference=1.32% body weight * height, p=0.003, effect size=0.76), during weight acceptance. These results indicate that high muscle co-contraction does not always result in high knee joint loading, which is thought to be associated with knee osteoarthritis. Long-term follow-up is required to evaluate how gait alterations progress in non-osteoarthritic versus osteoarthritic subjects. (c) 2018 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res
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