SPORT MEDICINE - CAPSTONE

Sport Medicine - Capstone

Sport Medicine - Capstone

This investigation studied the peak torque and total work hamstring/quadriceps (HQ) ratios of 24 lateral collateral ligament (LCL) insufficient knees, and clarified the possible associations between different HQ ratios and the long-term outcomes of patients. Peak torque values were recorded at low (60 degrees/sec) and high (180 degrees/sec) speed of isokinetic movement, and the maximal isometric extension and flexion outputs were measured at the knee angle of 60 degrees from straight. Three standardized knee scoring scales were used to determine the subjective, functional, clinical, and radiologic outcomes of these LCL insufficient knees. In every test a great interpersonal variation of the HQ ratios was noticed, even in the healthy knees (range 24% to 154%).

On the injured side the HQ ratios were in every test higher than on the healthy side, because of the weaker quadriceps muscle of the injured leg. These findings suggest that the HQ ratio is a very individual parameter, and therefore any general recommendation about the optimal value is very difficult to give. With regard to long-term outcome, the most ideal HQ ratio of an LCL insufficient knee seems to be the HQ ratio of the opposite, healthy extremity.

Our case series revealed an ACL graft retear rate in female basketball players of 9.4%. Some studies which reported results from patellar tendon and hamstring reconstruction also described incidence of hamstring ACL graft retear, but did not necessarily focus on graft ruptures [15,19-22]. According to these reports, the retear rate ranged from 2% to 8%. Salmon et al. concluded that risk factors of graft retear included return to competitive sports that require side-stepping, pivoting or jumping . Their findings are consistent with our data with regard to the high incidence of retear in female basketball players.

Previous reports describe external and ...