title: Effect of repeated passive anterior loading on human knee anterior laxity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Increased knee anterior laxity results when the anterior cruciate ligament is injured. This increased laxity can cause knee dysfunction. Until recently this laxity was believed to be only diminished through surgery. But recent findings indicate that knee anterior laxity may be decreased with repeated loading of the knee.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that regular passive anterior loading of the uninjured human knee would enhance its stiffness.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized controlled trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  Knee anterior laxity was tested using an arthrometer in 22 young, uninjured females before, during and after a 3 month period during which passive anterior loading was applied by a trained physiotherapist over 5 sessions per week to a randomly assigned knee.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Knee anterior laxity was not affected by the passive anterior loading of the knee.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given that in this study repeated passive loading of the knee did not change knee anterior laxity, it would be easy to conclude that this training is ineffective and no further research is required. We caution against this given the relatively short duration and possibly insufficient intensity of the training and the population studied; individuals with normal joint laxity. We recommend that future research be performed that consists of individuals with lax joints who receive training for prolonged periods.
authors.affiliation: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy, Slovenia; Arthron, Institute for Joint and Sports Injuries, Slovenia. Electronic address: renata.vauhnik@zf.uni-lj.si.
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vauhnik
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Medical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Maja Pohar
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Perme
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Physiotherapy, School of Medicine, King's College London, UK.
authors.forename: Massimo G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Barcellona
authors.affiliation: Biomechanics Laboatory, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Matthew C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Morrissey
authors.affiliation: Biomechanics Laboatory, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: France
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sevšek
authors.affiliation: Biomechanics Laboatory, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Darja
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rugelj
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007593:Joint Instability; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000502:physiology*; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology*; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anterior cruciate ligament; Arthrometry; Force; Manual therapy