Correlation between tibial external rotation and lower extremity biomechanical characteristics during gait in female juniors with dynamic knee valgus

Background: Dynamic knee valgus (DKV) is known as a contributing factor to ACL injury. Tibialexternal rotation (TER) is observed in subjects with DKV, which can put stress on ACL, and isassociated with patellofemoral pain syndrome. The purpose of this study was to investigate the probablecorrelation between TER angle and ankle, knee, hip biomechanics in female juniors with DKV duringgait cycle. Method: 26 female juniors with DKV between 10-14 years old performed 3 gait trials at theirpreferred speed. Lower extremity kinematic and kinetic data was recorded via 8 Vicon motion capturecameras and 2 Kistler force plates. Statistical analyses were done by IBM SPSS ver.24 using BivariatePearson Correlation. Results: TER was significantly correlated with toe-out angle (P=0.026, R=0.437),ankle pronation angle (P=0.007, R=0.0.518), and knee flexion angle (P=0.030, R=-0.426). Conclusion:TER is associated with greater toe-out, ankle pronation, and less knee flexion angles during walking.

Keywords:

Dynamic knee valgus , Gait biomechanics , Tibial external rotation , ACL injury , Female