title: Clinical disability in posterior cruciate ligament deficient patients does not relate to knee laxity, but relates to dynamic knee function during stair descending.
abstract: We investigated the factors which influence clinical subjective symptoms during activities in PCL deficient patients by evaluating knee laxity, muscle strength and knee mechanics during level walking, stair ascent and descent. Twenty-two subjects with isolated PCL deficient knees and 20 healthy volunteers were involved. The PCL deficient patients were divided into two subgroups based on previous history of experiencing giving-way during stair descent; a giving-way group (10 subjects) and a non giving-way group (12 subjects). Giving-way during activities of daily living is a key symptom in isolated PCL deficient patients. No statistically significant differences in the knee laxity, muscle strength and knee mechanics during level walking and were observed between the giving-way group and the non giving-way group. However, we found significant differences in the knee mechanics during stair ascent and descent between the two groups, and these differences were more remarkable during stair descent. Peak values of knee flexion angle, external knee flexion moment and posterior knee force during early stance phase were significantly lower in the giving-way group than in the non giving-way group. This study indicated that the symptom of giving-way during stair descent was related to knee mechanics during stair descent, unlike other quantitative evaluations such as KT-2000 or Biodex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku, Tokyo, 160-8582, Japan. pclman@gmail.com
authors.forename: Shinichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.forename: Yasunori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suda
authors.forename: Takeo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagura
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Toshiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Otani
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Andriacchi
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Toyama
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D016119:Posterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000293:injuries* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires