Soccer

Abstract

Female athletes are at least twice as likely to sustain an anterior cruciate ligament injury than male athletes. The underlying cause of ACL injury is multifactorial. However, several researchers have identified knee joint laxity as a possible contributing factor. The purpose of this study was to provide a comparison of knee joint laxity between male and female collegiate soccer players and male and female non-athletes. Thirty-nine (19 male, 20 female) apparently healthy, collegiate athletes from the University of Texas at El Paso's 2001-2002 women's intercollegiate soccer team and men's club soccer team, and forty (20 male, 20 female) non-athletic students volunteered to participate. All participants were tested bilaterally using the KT-1000 MEDmetric knee joint ligament arthrometer. Three tests were used to determine anterior laxity: passive displacement, active displacement, and the Lachman test. The mean passive displacement, mean active displacement, and Lachman (only for the left leg) were significantly lower for the athletic group than for the non-athletic group. There were no significant differences found between males and females for the passive and active drawer tests. However, females had significantly more laxity than males in the Lachman test. These findings suggest that strength and conditioning may play a more significant role in knee joint laxity than the sex of the individual.

Diagnosis and treatment of movement system impairment syndromes

“… 16 , 17 Several studies have found that the repetition of movements associated with various sports leads to adaptations in different tissues including bone, joint and its surrounding tissues and muscles. 4 , 5 , 6 , 7…”

“… 3 The prevailing theory, for which there is some evidence, is that the sustained alignments and repetitive movements during daily activities are the inducers of change in all the systems. 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 The modifiers of the changes are intrinsic factors such as the characteristics of the individual and extrinsic factors such as the degree and type of physical activity (work and fitness) in which a person participates. The key concept is that the body, at the joint level, follows the laws of physics and takes the path of least resistance for movement, typically in a specific direction such as flexion, extension or rotation.…”

Physiological anterior laxity in healthy young females: the effect of knee hyperextension and dominance

“…Furthermore, female athletes face a higher risk of knee injuries than their male counterparts in jumping and cutting sports [4]. They are at least twice as more likely to sustain an ACL injury than male athletes [13]. As mentioned above, the underlying causes of ACL injuries are numerous.…”

A prospective comparison of bone-patellar tendon-bone and hamstring tendon grafts for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in male patients

“…However, male recreational and professional athletes sustain ACL injuries more often in contact sports compared with females [27]. Comparisons between males and females after an ACL reconstruction have revealed a significant difference in knee laxity in some studies [14, 17, 39] but no significant difference comparing healthy athletes [37, 54].…”