RIGHT-TO-LEFT DIFFERENCES IN THE ANKLE JOINT COMPLEX RANGE OF MOTION

Rehabilitation of the ankle joint complex after injury is often consid ered complete when the injured ankle has the same range of motion and strength as the uninjured contralateral limb even though this symmetry has never been quantified. The purpose of this investigation was to d etermine whether there were differences in the ankle joint complex ran ge of motion between right and left legs. Total right and left ankle j oint complex range of motion was measured on 18 subjects using a fixtu re allowing six degrees of freedom. A four-camera video system was use d to record all range of motion movements. The results indicated that total dorsiflexion-plantarflexion, eversion-inversion, and abduction-a dduction ranges of motion were not significantly different between rig ht and left legs. However, separate abduction and adduction difference s occurred, with the right foot tending to abduct more than the left, while the left foot tended to adduct more than the right. These differ ences in the abduction and adduction range of motion may be inherent i n the measuring device. As a result of this study, it appears. that th e contralateral ankle joint complex can be used as a measure for estab lishing restoration of total range of motion of the ankle joint comple x following injury.