Effects of ipsilateral anterior thigh soft tissue stretching on passive unilateral straight-leg raise.
METHODS
Randomized 3-group pretest-posttest with blind assessment of outcome.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of sagittal plane hold-relax exercise applied to the ipsilateral anterior thigh, and prone positioning on passive unilateral straight-leg raise measurements.


BACKGROUND
Straight-leg raising has been viewed as a measurement for hamstring muscle length, but literature suggests that other structures may affect this measurement.


METHODS
Sixty subjects (45 men, 15 women) qualified for inclusion into the study based on a straight-leg raise measurement of < or = 65 degrees. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups: control, static stretch, or sagittal plane hold-relax exercise. Pretest and posttest straight-leg raise measurements of the right lower extremity were performed for each subject.


RESULTS
A 1-way ANOVA of the change scores showed a significant difference between groups. A Tukey post hoc analysis of the change scores showed that both treatment groups' means differed significantly from the control group and from each other, with the sagittal plane hold-relax group exhibiting the largest change (mean of 7.8 degrees +/- 2.8 degrees).


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study show that sagittal plane hold-relax exercise and passive prone results of this study show that sagittal plane hold-relax and passive prone positioning can significantly increase straight-leg raise range of motion, however the sagittal plane hold-relax stretching of the anterior thigh is more effective than passive prone positioning.
Clark
S
S
School of Physical Therapy, University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences, Des Moines, Iowa 50312, USA.
Christiansen
A
A
Hellman
D F
DF
Hugunin
J W
JW
Hurst
K M
KM
D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D016684:Prone Position; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D013848:Thigh / Q000502:physiology