Clinical biomechanics
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Clinical biomechanics · Jun 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialThe effects of gait retraining in runners with patellofemoral pain: A randomized trial.
Running popularity has increased resulting in a concomitant increase in running-related injuries with patellofemoral pain most commonly reported. The purpose of this study was to determine whether gait retraining by modifying footstrike patterns from rearfoot strike to forefoot strike reduces patellofemoral pain and improves associated biomechanical measures, and whether the modification influences risk of ankle injuries. ⋯ Findings suggest running with a forefoot strike pattern leads to reduced knee pain, and should be considered a possible strategy for management of patellofemoral pain in recreational runners. This trial is registered at the US National Institutes of Health (clinicaltrials.gov) #NCT02567123.
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Clinical biomechanics · May 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialEffect of exercise therapy on neuromuscular activity and knee strength in female adolescents with patellofemoral pain-An ancillary analysis of a cluster randomized trial.
Female adolescents with patellofemoral pain are characterized by altered neuromuscular knee control and reduced maximal quadriceps torque. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether exercise therapy and patient education are associated with larger improvements in neuromuscular knee control and maximal quadriceps torque compared with patient education alone. ⋯ Female adolescents randomized to patient education and exercise therapy had a significantly larger increase in maximal quadriceps torque and greater improvement in neuromuscular knee control during stair descent than those receiving patient education alone. This suggest that exercise therapy has an effect not only on self-reported outcome measures but also on objective measures of thigh muscle function in female adolescents with patellofemoral pain.
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Clinical biomechanics · Feb 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialProprioceptive use and sit-to-stand-to-sit after lumbar microdiscectomy: The effect of surgical approach and early physiotherapy.
Individuals with non-specific low back pain show decreased reliance on lumbosacral proprioceptive signals and slower sit-to-stand-to-sit performance. However, little is known in patients after lumbar microdiscectomy. ⋯ NCT01505595.
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Clinical biomechanics · Feb 2016
Differences in hip-knee joint coupling during gait after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
After anterior cruciate ligament injury, patients have increased risk for developing degenerative osteoarthritis, potentially due to the kinematic changes that persist after surgical reconstruction. Current research only describes single joint kinematic differences rather than the way in which two joints behave concurrently, termed joint coupling. The purpose of this study was to compare knee motion relative to hip motion in anterior cruciate ligament reconstructed and healthy limbs during walking and jogging. ⋯ The increased variability and decreased magnitude of joint excursion indicate that movement patterns were less consistent during walking gait despite employing a more constrained system during movement in the reconstructed limb compared to healthy controls.
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Clinical biomechanics · Jan 2016
Use of shear wave ultrasound elastography to quantify muscle properties in cerebral palsy.
Individuals with cerebral palsy tend to have altered muscle architecture and composition, but little is known about the muscle material properties, specifically stiffness. Shear wave ultrasound elastography allows shear wave speed, which is related to stiffness, to be measured in vivo in individual muscles. Our aim was to evaluate the material properties, specifically stiffness, as measured by shear wave speed of the medial gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscles in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy across a range of ankle torques and positions, and fascicle strains. ⋯ The higher shear wave speed in the more-affected limb of individuals with cerebral palsy indicates greater muscle stiffness, and demonstrates the clinical potential of shear wave elastography as a non-invasive tool for investigating mechanisms of altered muscle properties and informing diagnosis and treatment.