2025 ISAKOS Biennial Congress ePoster
Isokinetic Thigh Muscle Strength Evaluation After A Fatigue-Induced Plyometric Exercise Protocol In Male Amateur Soccer Players Who Underwent Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.
Ioannis Konstantinos Tzellios, MD, MSc, KOZANI GREECE
Themis Tsatalas, MS, Trikala GREECE
Giannis Giakas, PhD, Trikala GREECE
Department of Physical Education & Sport Science, University of Thessaly, Trikala, GREECE
FDA Status Not Applicable
Summary
Inadequate rehabilitation after ACL reconstruction leads to thigh muscle strength assymetries which produce different loads between injured and healthy knee and, therefore, predispone to ACL graft failure after return to sport.knee
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine thigh muscles strength and to evaluate the delayed – onset muscle soreness (DOMS) after a fatigue-induced plyometric exercise protocol in male amateur soccer players who underwent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLr) with quadrupled hamstrings (semitendinosus & gracilis) graft.
52 male athletes aged 17 – 30 years old who had undergone unilateral ACLr. 28,4 ± 3,07 months before and had returned to full sports activity were included. Muscle fatigue was induced with a protocol consisted of plyometric contractions of the knee extensors and flexors, using Cybex-Norm Isokinetic Dynamometer (Lumex Corporation, Ronkonkoma, NY, USA), during which thigh muscle concentric and eccentric strength between the healthy and the injured knee was compared, as well. The peak torques were determined at speeds of 60 and 180o/s. DOMS indices included maximal isometric contraction of both knee extensors and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) Score, after palpation of the main thigh muscles, and assessed at baseline and 48 hours after the protocol. Outcomes were compared between healthy and injured knee using the independent samples t test. P-values <0.05 were considered significant.
Statistically significant thigh muscle strength asymmetries between the healthy and the injured knee were noticed both during the concentric and the eccentric exercise. The extension deficit of the injured knee ranged between 15 – 20% and the flexion deficit between 17 – 22%, compared with the healthy knee, during plyometric contractions (p<0.05). The isometric peak torque of the extensors of the injured knee was at 82% at baseline and 88% 48 hours after the fatigue-induced protocol, compared with the healthy knee (p<0.05). Moreover, both maximal isometric peak torque of the extensors and the VAS score were statistically significant higher in the injured knee 48 hours after the plyometric exercise (p<0.05).
In conclusion, thigh muscle strength asymmetry between the healthy and the injured knee and the higher DOMS in the injured knee after plyometric exercise potentially lead to an asymmetrical load of the knees during sport activities and, therefore, represent predisposing factors for ACL graft failure.