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Clinical disability in posterior cruciate ligament deficient patients does not relate to knee laxity, but relates to dynamic knee function during stair descending

  • Knee
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Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

We investigated the factors which influence clinical subjective symptoms during activities in PCL deficient patients by evaluating knee laxity, muscle strength and knee mechanics during level walking, stair ascent and descent. Twenty-two subjects with isolated PCL deficient knees and 20 healthy volunteers were involved. The PCL deficient patients were divided into two subgroups based on previous history of experiencing giving-way during stair descent; a giving-way group (10 subjects) and a non giving-way group (12 subjects). Giving-way during activities of daily living is a key symptom in isolated PCL deficient patients. No statistically significant differences in the knee laxity, muscle strength and knee mechanics during level walking and were observed between the giving-way group and the non giving-way group. However, we found significant differences in the knee mechanics during stair ascent and descent between the two groups, and these differences were more remarkable during stair descent. Peak values of knee flexion angle, external knee flexion moment and posterior knee force during early stance phase were significantly lower in the giving-way group than in the non giving-way group. This study indicated that the symptom of giving-way during stair descent was related to knee mechanics during stair descent, unlike other quantitative evaluations such as KT-2000 or Biodex.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Tsuyoshi Takeda (Keio University) for providing outstanding patient support. We would also like to thank Satoshi Imai (Keio University) for assistance in measurements of muscle strength using BIODEX, and Chris O Dyrby and Ajit Chaudhari (Stanford University) for advice on this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku, Tokyo, 160-8582, Japan

    Shinichiro Iwata, Yasunori Suda, Takeo Nagura, Hideo Matsumoto, Toshiro Otani & Yoshiaki Toyama

  2. Division of Biomechanical Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 225 Durand Building, 496 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305-4038, USA

    Thomas P. Andriacchi

Authors
  1. Shinichiro Iwata
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  2. Yasunori Suda
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  3. Takeo Nagura
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  4. Hideo Matsumoto
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  5. Toshiro Otani
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  6. Thomas P. Andriacchi
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  7. Yoshiaki Toyama
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Correspondence to Shinichiro Iwata.

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Iwata, S., Suda, Y., Nagura, T. et al. Clinical disability in posterior cruciate ligament deficient patients does not relate to knee laxity, but relates to dynamic knee function during stair descending. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 15, 258–265 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-006-0183-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-006-0183-x

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