Peroneal latency in normal and injured ankles at varying angles of perturbation

The aim of this study was to determine whether there was a difference in la tency of the peroneus longus muscle at varying amplitudes of ankle inversio n perturbation and between individuals with and without a history of ankle injury. Thirty-four male athletes from different football codes (soccer, ru gby) received four random tilts to their left ankles at 5 degrees, 10 degre es, and 15 degrees in the frontal plane on a dual platform trap door. Peron eal latency was defined as the time difference between onset of the trap do or movement, as detected by an accelerometer, and the onset of muscle activ ation above a resting baseline, as recorded using surface electromyography. Latency was determined using an algorithm, A series of repeated measures a nalyses of variance indicated that the latency was reliable between trials. There was no statistical evidence that history of injury or subjective ank le instability influenced the latency; however, there was a systematic diff erence between dominant and nondominant legs (dominant, 6.3 ms faster), and there was a small systematic effect (3 ms) for the angle of inversion pert urbation, Muscle latency responses in male football players are thought to be influenced more by dominance than by history of injury or amplitude of p erturbation.