Objectives-To measure objectively functional standing balance in the acute stages of non-contact ankle sprain, and to compare patients with controls. Methods-A Chattanooga balance machine was used to measure postural stability in patients with acute ankle sprain and uninjured controls over a two week period, in one and two legged stance, with eyes open and closed. Participants also completed the Olerud and Molander questionnaire to provide a subjective measure of ankle function.Results-There was a highly significant improvement in questionnaire scores for the patients during the study period (p<0.0001). Patients appeared to be less stable than controls in all balance tests, although the diVerence did not reach significance. There was evidence of improvement over time in the number of tests successfully completed on the injured leg in single legged stance with eyes closed (p = 0.043) between visits 1 and 3. Conclusions-The patient group showed a subjective improvement, which supports clinical experience of treating acute ankle injuries. There is some evidence that on average the patient group appeared to be less stable than controls in all balance tests, although the diVerence did not reach statistical significance, even on the uninjured leg. There is a need to carry out further studies to confirm the results found in this pilot study and to investigate the hypotheses generated. It would be useful to evaluate a simple test that could be used clinically to monitor progress after ankle injury, and also to identify athletes with decreased functional stability, who may be more at risk of sustaining ankle injury. (Br J Sports Med 2000;34:352-358)

The purpose of this study was to biomechanically assess the effect of varying suture pitch on the holding power of the Krackow suture technique for tendon graft fixation. Seven pairs of rabbit Achilles tendons were sutured with single No. 5 Ti-Cron suture using the Krackow technique. One tendon from each pair was sutured using a 0.5-cm suture pitch (half-pitch group) while the contralateral tendon from each pair was sutured with a 1.0-cm suture pitch (one-pitch group). The tendons were loaded to failure using a servohydraulic materials test system at a loading rate of 0.5 mm/sec. There were no statistically significant differences noted in suture slippage at failure (1.58 cm for half pitch versus 1.45 cm for one pitch) or maximal force to failure (158.5 N for half pitch versus 168.2 N one pitch) between the two treatment groups. However, the construct with the 1-cm suture pitch was significantly stiffer than the construct with the 0.5-cm suture pitch, with stiffness values of 106.2 N/cm and 91.4 N/cm, respectively. The most common mechanism of failure was slippage of the suture at the first suture throw and tearing of the first knot through the most distal portion of the tendon. Four constructs failed by suture rupture, two from each experimental group.