Stabilometric assessment in the anterior cruciate ligament-reconstructed knee.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the hypotheses that anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction improves the proprioception of the knee beyond the level of ACL-deficient knees, and that proprioception of the knee correlates well with knee function after ACL reconstruction.


METHODS
Fifty-three patients with ACL-reconstructed knees (22 men and 31 women), 30 physically active healthy volunteers with normal knees (15 men and 15 women), and 30 patients with chronic ACL-deficient knees (15 men and 15 women).


METHODS
A stabilometric assessment, which is considered to be a useful method for evaluating proprioception objectively, was used to compare the one-leg standing balance among three groups; and the relationship between subjective knee function, satisfaction, hop index, knee laxity, isokinetic thigh muscle strength, and one-leg standing balance in the ACL-reconstructed patients was also analyzed.


RESULTS
The one-leg standing balance of the patients with ACL-reconstructed knees was still impaired compared with that of healthy volunteers (men, p < 0.05; women, p < 0.01), but significantly better than that of the patients with ACL-deficient knees (men, p < 0.001; women, p < 0.001). The one-leg standing balance of the patients with ACL-reconstructed knees correlated well with their functional outcomes such as subjective knee function (men, p < 0.001; women, p < 0.01), satisfaction (men, p < 0.01; women, p < 0.001), and hop index (men, p < 0.001; women, p < 0.001), whereas poor correlation was seen between functional outcomes and mechanical stability.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that knee function after ACL-reconstruction should be closely related with knee proprioception, and indicate that the usefulness of stabilometric assessment in the evaluation of the function of ACL-reconstructed knees.
Shiraishi
M
M
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Japan.
Mizuta
H
H
Kubota
K
K
Otsuka
Y
Y
Nagamoto
N
N
Takagi
K
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000503:physiopathology; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; D001182:Arthroscopy / Q000379:methods; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D004856:Postural Balance; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D016896:Treatment Outcome