Based on these results, the new ankle activity score could be a better complement in the complex evaluation of ankle instability.
Background: A search of the literature shows that the effect of surgery on ankle proprioception has been hardly investigated. Objective: To examine the effect of anatomical reconstruction of the anterolateral capsuloligamentous complex on ankle joint position sense. Methods: A prospective study using the ''slope box'' test. Ten consecutive patients were included in the study, and 10 healthy athletes represented the control group. Results: Similar test-retest reliability rates (overall reliability 0.92; p = 0.0013) were obtained to those of the original designers of the method. There were no significant differences with respect to side dominance (p = 0.9216). Investigation of the characteristics of mean absolute estimate errors showed that the controls tested became error prone in the range of slope altitudes 7.5-25˚in every direction, compared with the range 0-5˚(range of p values 0.00003-0.00072). The results of the intervention group showed that, for the two main directions of interest (anterior and lateral), preoperative differences in mean absolute estimate errors between injured (anterior 3.91 (2.81)˚; lateral 4.06 (2.85)˚) and healthy (anterior 2.94 (2.21)˚, lateral 3.19 (2.64)˚) sides (anterior, p = 0.0124; lateral, p = 0.0250) had disappeared (postoperative differences: anterior, p = 0.6906; lateral, p = 0.4491). The afflicted ankle had improved significantly after surgery in both important directions (anterior, p,0.0001; lateral, p = 0.0023). Conclusions: The study shows that differences in joint position sense between healthy and injured ankles disappeared as the result of surgery. Preoperative data show that proprioceptive malfunction is a cause of functional instability. If treatment is by means of surgery, the retensioning of the original anterolateral structures is inevitable, even if other grafting or surgical techniques are used.
Improvement of ankle proprioception through physiotherapy (a.k.a. proprioceptive training) is a widely accepted conservative treatment modality of chronic functional lateral ankle instability. Clinical studies provided controversial data on its proprioceptive effect. Aim of this study was to gain evidence on the efficacy of proprioceptive training on ankle joint position sense. Ten patients (five males and five females, aged 23.3+/-5.4 years) were treated conservatively for chronic lateral ankle instability with a special training programme over 6 weeks. For the assessment of joint position sense we used the slope-box test, first applied and described by Robbins et al. (Br J Sports Med 29:242-247, 1995). The test was performed before the start and after the end of the training programme, measuring joint position sense on 11 different slope amplitudes in four directions (anterior, posterior, lateral and medial) in random order each on both ankles. Comparisons were made between pre- and post-training results as well as versus a control-group of ten healthy athletes. Overall the proprioceptive sensory function of the studied group has improved, but this improvement was not significant in all directions. Only two patients have shown significant improvement of joint position sense in all directions (mean estimate error improvement: 2.47 degrees ), while conservative treatment was partially successful in five others (mean estimate error improvement: 0.73 degrees ). The follow-up results of these seven patients were comparable with the values measured in the control-group. Three patients did not show any improvements (mean estimate error improvement: -0.55 degrees ) (overall difference between improving and non-improving patients: P<0.0001). Mean absolute estimate error profiles of the seven improving patients became similar to the profiles of healthy athletes, while these changes could not be observed in the case of the three non-improving participants. Proprioceptive rehabilitation programme can be an effective method in order to improve impaired joint position sense function. After 6 weeks non-responding patients can be well identified, and considered for other treatment modalities. The determination of the effective length of the programme however needs further evaluation. Still, changes in the proprioceptive sensory function of the ankle plantarflectors indicate the preventive effect of the training programme. Furthermore, our results support the theory of simultaneous function of different mechanoreceptor-systems.
Preventive effect of proprioceptive training is proven by decreasing injury incidence, but its proprioceptive mechanism is not. Major hypothesis: the training has a positive long-term effect on ankle joint position sense in athletes of a high-risk sport (handball). Ten elite-level female handball-players represented the intervention group (training-group), 10 healthy athletes of other sports formed the control-group. Proprioceptive training was incorporated into the regular training regimen of the training-group. Ankle joint position sense function was measured with the "slope-box" test, first described by Robbins et al. Testing was performed one day before the intervention and 20 months later. Mean absolute estimate errors were processed for statistical analysis. Proprioceptive sensory function improved regarding all four directions with a high significance (p<0.0001; avg. mean estimate error improvement: 1.77 degrees). This was also highly significant (p< or =0.0002) in each single directions, with avg. mean estimate error improvement between 1.59 degrees (posterior) and 2.03 degrees (anterior). Mean absolute estimate errors at follow-up (2.24 degrees +/-0.88 degrees) were significantly lower than in uninjured controls (3.29 degrees +/-1.15 degrees) (p<0.0001). Long-term neuromuscular training has improved ankle joint position sense function in the investigated athletes. This joint position sense improvement can be one of the explanations for injury rate reduction effect of neuromuscular training.
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