Anteroposterior ground reaction force as an indicator of gait alteration during treadmill walking after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

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Abstract

We investigated the weight transferring aspect of gait pattern during treadmill walking and muscle strength of the knee extensors and flexors following unilateral anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery. At 6 and 12 postoperative months, 11 patients (six men, five women) walked on a split-belt treadmill with two embedded force plates at their preferred speeds, 20% slower and 20% faster. Seventeen healthy control subjects (nine men, eight women) were also evaluated. Peak values of three components of ground reaction force (vertical, anteroposterior, and mediolateral) were measured bilaterally, and their variabilities were analyzed by coefficients of variation (CVs). The CVs for the anteroposterior forces differed between the reconstructed and contralateral limbs at 6 postoperative months, and this difference disappeared at 12 months. This was not matched by the time course change of quadriceps strength since quadriceps weakness in the reconstructed limb persisted up to 12 months postoperative. These findings suggest that gait alteration in anteroposterior forces may not be caused by quadriceps weakness alone, and the reconstructed and contralateral limbs may compensate for gait execution over the first year following ACL reconstruction surgery.

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