The purpose of this study was to determine in normal knees, and in knees with anterior cruciate ligament absence, what effect maximal voluntary isometric contraction of the quadriceps has on translation of the tibia on the femur. Ten subjects with bilaterally normal knees, and nine subjects with one normal knee and the contralateral knee having an arthroscopic finding of absent anterior cruciate ligament were tested. Tibial translation was measured with a dial indicator at 15, 45 and 60 degrees of knee flexion. There was a measurable anterior translation of the tibia in all knees. An analysis of variance with post hoc testing of two weighted contrasts showed a significant increase from normal in anterior tibial translation in subjects with absence of the anterior cruciate ligament, P < 0.05. In subjects with normal knees, there was no significant difference in tibial translation between subject's right and left knees. Regardless of the status of the anterior cruciate ligament, there was no significant difference in translation between maximal voluntary isometric contractions of the quadriceps at 15, 45 or 60 degrees of knee flexion. It was concluded that in subjects with an absent anterior cruciate ligament, voluntary maximal isometric exercises of the quadriceps should be avoided through the range of 60 to 15 degrees of knee flexion. Another conclusion was that a valid comparison of anterior tibial translation during maximal voluntary isometric contraction of the quadriceps may be made between knees within the same subject. A third conclusion was that a difference of greater than 3.1 mm of anterior tibial translation between knees measured during maximal voluntary isometric contraction of the quadriceps may be a sign of anterior cruciate ligament deficiency. Suggestions for further research were proposed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:vcu.edu/oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-5549 |
| Date | 01 January 1983 |
| Creators | Connors, Charles V. |
| Publisher | VCU Scholars Compass |
| Source Sets | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | © The Author |
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