FUNCTIONAL GAIT ADAPTATIONS IN PATIENTS WITH ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT DEFICIENCY OVER TIME

Functional adaptations in knee kinematics and kinetics during level wa lking in 30 patients with unilateral anterior cruciate ligament defici ency and 30 healthy control subjects were studied, To examine the impa ct of time after injury on the functional adaptations, patients were p laced into three time interval groups: early, intermediate, and chroni c, The patients with anterior cruciate ligament deficiency had signifi cantly decreased external knee flexion moments (balanced by net quadri ceps contraction) and significantly increased external knee extension moments (balanced by net knee flexors contraction) as compared with th e control subjects, As time after the injury increased, changes in the sagittal plane knee moments were more pronounced, A significant linea r relationship (positive correlation) was found between the midstance knee flexion moment and the corresponding knee flexion angle, The pati ents with anterior cruciate deficiency had a greater knee flexion angl e when generating a comparable midstance knee flexion moment as compar ed to the control subjects, The identification of gait adaptations ove r time provides additional information on the natural history of anter ior cruciate ligament deficiency and may have implications regarding c onservative rehabilitation, evaluation of outcomes, progression of men iscal injury, and the development of degenerative arthritis of the kne e.