Hm. Holder-powell et Om. Rutherford, Unilateral lower limb injury: Its long-term effects on quadriceps, hamstring, and plantarflexor muscle strength, ARCH PHYS M, 80(6), 1999, pp. 717-720
Objective: To ascertain if long-term deficits in quadriceps, hamstring, and
plantarflexor muscle strength remain after unilateral lower-limb musculosk
eletal injury and to quantify whether improvements in performance continue
once a subject concludes rehabilitation and returns to everyday activities.
The relation between the size of decrement and limb dominance, type of inj
ury, and time since injury was also considered.
Design: Isometric and/or dynamic muscle strength of both legs was measured
(using the KinCom 500H isokinetic dynamometer) in 48 subjects.
Setting: A physiological laboratory at Brunel University.
Patients: Patients were recruited locally via a district general hospital,
sports injury clinic, and university.
Main Outcome Measures: Muscle strength in the injured limb, reported as a p
ercentage of muscle strength in the uninjured limb. It was assumed that the
preinjury state of the injured limb was similar to that of the uninjured l
imb.
Results: Decrements were seen in mean isometric and peak isometric, concent
ric, and eccentric quadriceps activity (p <.0001) and isometric plantarflex
or activity (p <.05) in the injured limb, with the type of injury influenci
ng the size of the decrement. Minimal difference was found in the hamstring
muscles.
Conclusions: The decrements in performance in the quadriceps muscle imply t
hat full recovery las defined by the preinjury state) is frequently not ach
ieved and stress the need for accurate, objective assessment of muscle stre
ngth and further investigation into the nature and duration of rehabilitati
on after musculoskeletal injury. (C) 1999 by the American Congress of Rehab
ilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabi
litation.