- Title
- Knee Joint Competence Post Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in Amateur South Western Districts Rugby Players
- Creator
- Potgieter, Quinten Christiaan
- Subject
- Neuromuscular depolarizing agents
- Subject
- Knee--Wounds and injuries -- South Western Districts
- Subject
- Rugby Players
- Date Issued
- 2022-12
- Date
- 2022-12
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/60266
- Identifier
- vital:64289
- Description
- Background: Globally, literature has shown that rugby players struggle to return to the same level of performance post anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. This phenomenon is further exacerbated amongst South African Rugby players, compounded by the ranking of the national team amongst the top ten rugby teams worldwide. Paired with the psychosocial aspect of return to play, the physical and physiological competence of the knee joint is of pivotal importance. Purpose: To compare relative dynamic stability scores paired with electromyography (EMG) scores between the injured and uninjured legs, thereby enabling an explorative, descriptive report on dynamic proprioceptive abilities post ACL reconstruction (ACLR). The study findings therefore aim to inform rehabilitative practice in a rugby player who underwent ACLR. Study Design: A quantitative, explorative and descriptive design was used, with a purposive sampling strategy. Methods: Biographical and anthropometrical data was measured upon inception. Muscular activation was measured using electromyography (EMG) placements on quadriceps muscles which included the vastus medialis obliques (VMO), and vastus lateralis (VL). Dynamic proprioception was measured using the star excursion balance test (SEBT) and normalised to leg length. A neuromuscular fatigue protocol was used to measure the impact of neuromuscular fatigue on dynamic stability, and muscle activation between the injured and uninjured lower limbs. Results: A sample of 15 participants from the South Western Districts (SWD) rugby team, fitting the inclusion criteria, were included in the study. The average age was 27±2.7 years. The results indicated that fatigue did not significantly affect the SEBT scores between the injured and uninjured lower limbs. However, the VMO muscle activation showed a statistically significant difference in muscle firing in a pre-fatigue state. This difference was evident in two of the eight directions namely anteromedial direction (p = 0.041), and in the lateral direction (p = 0.047). Furthermore, these result differences were favoured in the uninjured limb. No significant differences between the injured and uninjured lower limbs were found in respect to VMO and VL muscle activation, in a fatigued state. vi Conclusion: Practically translated, the study results showed that the injured lower limb, showed no significant differences in dynamic stability during both the non-fatigued and the fatigued SEBT. Therefore, the finding of this study is a steppingstone towards informing return to play criteria for adequate dynamic knee stability and proprioception. It should be noted that further research is necessary to refine return to play criteria and thereby decrease the risk for re-injury. Keywords: anterior cruciate ligament; dynamic stability; neuro-muscular fatigue; reconstruction; re-injury; return-to-sport; rugby.
- Description
- Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Health Sciences, 2022
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (xiii, 116 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Potgieter,Q Dec 2022.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |