Abstract
Abstract
Background Assessment of player’s postural control following a lower limb injury is of interest to sports medicine practitioners due to its fundamental role in daily tasks and sporting activities.
Objective The aim was to measure the longitudinal changes in rugby union players’ postural control following a lower limb injury.
Design Prospective, longitudinal assessment of rehabilitation.
Setting Elite Rugby Union.
Participants Seven male rugby union players (height 1.80 ± 0.02 m; mass 100.3 ± 11.4 kg; age 24 ± 4 years).
Interventions All participants sustained a time loss (> 14 days) non-contact lower limb injury. Three rehabilitation phases were used: acute, middle, and late.
Main outcome measures Sway path (m) during unilateral static postural control under eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions during the acute phase. Vertical postural stability index (VPSI) was quantified during a unilateral drop jump and unilateral lateral hurdle hop in the middle and late phase, respectively. Measures were recorded pre-injury (baseline) and at the beginning and end of each rehabilitation phase.
Results During the acute phase, a shorter sway path were observed in eyes-open at end session compared to the first session (p <0.05). For eyes closed, a larger sway path were observed for the last session compared to baseline (p <0.05). For the middle and late phase smaller magnitudes of VPSI (p <0.05) were observed between the first and end testing sessions. Whereas, larger magnitudes of VPSI were found between baseline and the last session (p <0.05).
Conclusion Postural control improvements were identified during rehabilitation. However, postural control did not return to baseline, with altered kinetics throughout each rehabilitation phase. Greater attention should be given to addressing a player’s static and dynamic postural control during lower limb injury rehabilitation.
Background Assessment of player’s postural control following a lower limb injury is of interest to sports medicine practitioners due to its fundamental role in daily tasks and sporting activities.
Objective The aim was to measure the longitudinal changes in rugby union players’ postural control following a lower limb injury.
Design Prospective, longitudinal assessment of rehabilitation.
Setting Elite Rugby Union.
Participants Seven male rugby union players (height 1.80 ± 0.02 m; mass 100.3 ± 11.4 kg; age 24 ± 4 years).
Interventions All participants sustained a time loss (> 14 days) non-contact lower limb injury. Three rehabilitation phases were used: acute, middle, and late.
Main outcome measures Sway path (m) during unilateral static postural control under eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions during the acute phase. Vertical postural stability index (VPSI) was quantified during a unilateral drop jump and unilateral lateral hurdle hop in the middle and late phase, respectively. Measures were recorded pre-injury (baseline) and at the beginning and end of each rehabilitation phase.
Results During the acute phase, a shorter sway path were observed in eyes-open at end session compared to the first session (p <0.05). For eyes closed, a larger sway path were observed for the last session compared to baseline (p <0.05). For the middle and late phase smaller magnitudes of VPSI (p <0.05) were observed between the first and end testing sessions. Whereas, larger magnitudes of VPSI were found between baseline and the last session (p <0.05).
Conclusion Postural control improvements were identified during rehabilitation. However, postural control did not return to baseline, with altered kinetics throughout each rehabilitation phase. Greater attention should be given to addressing a player’s static and dynamic postural control during lower limb injury rehabilitation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | A78.2-A78 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Journal | British Journal of Sports Medicine |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue number | Suppl 2 |
| Early online date | 2 Mar 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Mar 2024 |