Gait adaptations following anterior cruciate ligament rupture are sex specific
Résumé
Background Various gait kinematic adaptations have been reported for patients with an anterior cruciate ligament deficient (ACLD) knee. However, to our knowledge, no study has compared their kinematics to their sex-matched controls for the entire gait cycle. Therefore, this retrospective study aims to identify differences in gait kinematics between ACLD patients and sex-matched controls. Methods Two databases were merged in this study, comparing knee gait kinematics of 44 injured males (ACLD-M) and 27 injured females (ACLD-F) with 32 healthy males (Control-M) and 37 healthy females (Control-F), respectively. Participants walked on a treadmill at a comfortable speed, and their movements were captured using the KneeKG® system. Results The ACLD-M group showed a significantly decreased varus angle at several gait cycle sub-phases (from 17–32%, 57–73% and 86–97%; all p < 0.05) and an increased external tibial rotation from 67–86% of the gait cycle (p < 0.001) compared to the Control-M group. The ACLD-F group exhibited increased knee flexion from 1–53% (p < 0.001) and from 95–100% (p < 0.05) and increased valgus from 1–65% (p < 0.001) and from 94–100% (p < 0.05) of the gait cycle compared to Control-F group. Conclusion Our study reveals sex-specific adaptations following ACL rupture. Women exhibited more gait adaption in the sagittal and frontal planes during the stance phase while men demonstrated adaptations in frontal plane for sub-phases of stance and swing, and external tibial rotation during initial and mid-swing phases. These findings suggest that ACL injury kinematics and rehabilitation after injury should be sex-specific.