Factors that Could Cause Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury

Several studies suggest that there is a relationship between females and an increased risk for knee injuries when compare to their male counterparts. One of the more common injuries that studies seem to focus more of their attention on is Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries. Women seem to be more susceptible than men to these ACL injuries because of hormonal differences, structural differences, musculature differences, and mechanical differences (Hirst, Armeau & Parish, 2007). Large Q-angles and genu recurvatum are more common in women than they are in men (Devan et. al., 2004). These structural and biomechanical differences could create added stress on the knee which could lead to an overuse knee injury in females (Devan et. al., 2004). It has been hypothesized that the reason for a larger Q-angle found in women is because they have a wider pelvis which gives them a more lateral proximal distance point than men (Veeramani et. al., 2010). They go on to say that even if women did have a wider pelvis at the level of ASIS, the effect is minuscule because the distance between the ASIS and the patella is quite large (Veeramani et. al., 2010).

Factors that could cause ACL injury/damage can be categorized into both intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors. Extrinsic factors can include shoe-surface interface, body movement in sport, level of skill coordination, muscular strength, and muscular coordination (Arendt & Dick, 1995). ACL injuries in the female population often occur during routine noncontact activities such as landing while rebounding a basketball (Rozzi, Lephart & Fu, 1999). Intrinsic factors can include limb alignment, joint laxity, and the size of the ligament (Arendt & Dick, 1995). Proprioceptive deficits causing motor...

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..., AI, and CA were determined after we had taken footprints of our feet by stepping in water with one foot and then placing that foot on a clean sheet of paper. Before the water dried on the paper, we were instructed to outline the footprint. Measurements were then made on the paper and CSI, AI, and CA could be calculated. BMI could be calculated by using the height and weight of the subjects.

The Beighton score, which is a modification of the Carter and Wilkinson score system, was used to determine ligamentous laxity score. One point was given for the completion of each of the five tests. Zero points were given if the subject could not complete the test. A score of two or less means the body’s ligament is normal. A score of three to four means that ligamentous laxity may be present. A score of five or more means significant ligamentous laxity (Wilkinson, 1964).