Lower Limb Biomechanics During Drop-Jump Landings on Challenging Surfaces in Individuals With Chronic Ankle Instability

Abstract

Context: Individuals with chronic ankle instability (CAI) exhibit impaired lower limb biomechanics during unilateral drop jump landing on a flat surface. However, lower limb biomechanical adaptations during unilateral drop jump landing on more challenging surfaces such as unstable or inclined are yet to be described. Objective: Determine how unilateral drop jump landing surfaces (flat, unstable and inclined) influence lower limb EMG, kinematics and kinetics in individuals with CAI. Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Setting: Biomechanics laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: Twenty-two young adults with CAI Interventions: Participants completed five trials of unilateral drop jump landing from a 46 cm height platform on flat (DROP), unstable (FOAM) and laterally inclined (WEDGE) surfaces. Main outcome measure(s): EMG of gluteus medius, vastus lateralis, gastrocnemius medialis, peroneus longus and tibialis anterior muscles were recorded. Knee and ankle angles and moments were calculated using a three-dimensional motion analysis system and a force plate. Biomechanical variables were compared between tasks using one-dimensional statistical nonparametric mapping. Results: During DROP, greater ankle dorsiflexion angles, knee extension moments and vastus lateralis muscle activity (FOAM only) were observed compared to FOAM and WEDGE. Greater ankle inversion angles were observed during FOAM and WEDGE compared to DROP. Peroneus longus muscle activity was greater during DROP compared to FOAM. During FOAM, greater ankle inversion and knee extension angles, ankle inversion and internal rotation moments as well as smaller peroneus longus muscle activity were observed compared to WEDGE. Conclusions: The greater ankle inversion and plantarflexion angles as well as the lack of increase in peroneus longus muscle activation during FOAM and WEDGE could increase the risk of recurrent LAS in individuals with CAI. The results of this study improve our understanding of lower limb biomechanics changes when landing on more challenging surfaces and will help clinicians better targeting deficits associated with CAI during rehabilitation.

Effects of foot orthoses on the biomechanics of the lower extremities in adults with and without musculoskeletal disorders during functional tasks: A systematic review

“…FOs have been observed to decrease ankle inversion moments (Lam et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2020) and medial-tolateral forces under the forefoot as well as increase plantar forces and pressure under the 25 fifth metatarsal (Yu et al, 2007) during landing. As landing from a jump is a task requiring high load attenuation demands on the lower extremities (Bates et al, 2013;Moisan et al, 2020;Moisan et al, 2022), this may explain the smaller kinematic effects of FOs compared to other tasks such as walking (Desmyttere et al, 2018;Hajizadeh et al, 2020) and step and stair ambulation (Bonifácio et al, 2018;Hart et al, 2020). FOs should perhaps be manufactured to provide more pronatory control (e.g., stiffer shells and medial wedges) to achieve the same level of changes to the lower extremity biomechanics as observed in less challenging tasks.…”

Ankle Biomechanics During Multidirectional Landings in Athletes With Chronic Ankle Instability

“…9 Single-leg jump landing during indoor and court sports activities shows the greatest risk of ankle sprain, 10 with previous studies reporting changes in kinematics, kinetics, dynamic postural stability, and muscle activity in individuals with CAI during landing activities. [11][12][13] However, the majority of such studies explored unilateral landing in a forward direction, which does not replicate real sport situations where athletes perform jumps and landings in multi-directions. Wikstrom et al 14 stated that conducting research with only forward jump landing does not provide sufficient predictive capability when trying to evaluate risks of lower extremity injury.…”