Recent clinical studies have investigated postural sway characteristics in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-deficient knees, but the relative contributions of vision and ACL remain unclear. In the current study, we measured and compared postural sway during one-leg standing with eyes open and closed to assess the difference between legs with and without ACL injury, and we discuss the contribution of the ligament relative to vision and to postural sway in patients. We examined 32 patients (17 males, 15 females) with ACL injury before surgery from March 2001 through January 2004. None presented obvious dysfunction in the lower limbs or central nervous system. Using a gravicorder, we measured locus length per time (LG) and environmental area (AR) as the factors of postural sway during two-leg and one-leg standing with eyes open or closed. In the ACL-injured knee, the amount of postural sway increased significantly during injured leg standing with eyes closed (LG, P < 0.0001; AR, P < 0.0001), but it did not increase significantly with eyes open. There were no significant differences with respect to sex or general joint laxity. There was no correlation between postural sway and the anterior translation of the tibia measured by arthrometer KT2000 or between the muscle strength around the knee. We concluded that the amount of postural sway in the ACL-injured knee increased significantly on injured leg standing with eyes closed, and that vision appears to be dominant in compensating for the decreased contribution of the injured ACL.

Radiographic and computed tomography features of unilateral intra-articular calcaneal fractures after open reduction and internal fixation were compared with late functional outcomes to identify prognostic factors. Sixty-one of 67 patients treated between 1997 and 2002 could walk painlessly postoperatively (average, 19.7 months). Functional results (Laasonen's criteria) were excellent or good in 92.5%. Factors associated with better functional results were lower age (p = .0227), greater Böhler angle at the time of injury (p < .0001), lower Sanders' grade (p = .0497), increased height of fractured regions (p = .0249), better reduction of the posterior facet (p = .0126), and better reduction of the calcaneocuboid joint (p = .0023). Only the latter two were found to be surgical prognostic factors.

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