Medicine and science in sports and exercise
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Med Sci Sports Exerc · Feb 1999
Laxity, instability, and functional outcome after ACL injury: copers versus noncopers.
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship among laxity, quadriceps strength, instability, and function in subjects with complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) who compensate well for the injury (copers) and those who require surgical stabilization (noncopers). ⋯ Copers were not different in any meaningful way from the noncopers before injury, had equal or greater side-to-side laxity differences, and functioned normally. A battery of tests was identified that accurately discriminated noncopers from copers even early after injury. Thus, measurements of laxity alone are insufficient for determining functional status after ACL injury.