Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and dynamic stability at time of release for return to sport.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Examine dynamic stability using Dynamic Postural Stability Index (DPSI) in athletes following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) at time of release for return-to-sport (RTS), compared to matched controls. DESIGN: Cross-sectional case-control study. SETTING: Sports medicine clinic. SUBJECTS: Fifteen ACLR athletes who had completed post-operative rehabilitation and were within 6 weeks following release to RTS were age-, gender-, and activity-matched to 15 healthy controls. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Ground reaction forces (GRFs) were collected using a portable force plate during stabilization from three different single-leg landing tasks. A composite DPSI was calculated using GRFs. RESULTS: Compared to matched controls, ACLR athletes within 6 weeks of release for RTS did not significantly differ in dynamic postural stability and there were no significant differences between the involved and uninvolved limbs in the ACLR group. CONCLUSION: Current findings indicate that dynamic postural stability, as measured using the DPSI, is not significantly different in ACLR subjects at time of release for RTS compared to matched controls. In addition, the DPSI was not significantly different between the involved and uninvolved limbs in the ACLR subjects. The results suggest that the post-ACLR rehabilitation program utilized may have adequately restored postural stability in this particular sample.