Baseball pitchers need trunk strength to maximize performance. The Pilates method of exercise is gaining popularity throughout the country as a fitness and rehabilitation method of exercise. However, very few studies exist that examine the effects of the Pilates method of exercise on trunk strength or performance. Using a single ...

BACKGROUND: The outcomes of knee arthroplasty have been shown to be affected by component alignment. Intramedullary and extramedullary alignment instrumentation are fairly effective for achieving the desired mean tibial component coronal alignment. However, there are outliers representing >3 degrees of varus or valgus alignment with respect to the anatomic tibial ...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common forms of musculoskeletal disorders and incurs significant economic, social and psychological costs. OA increases in prevalence and also progresses with aging. Clinically OA is characterised by joint pain, crepitus, stiffness after immobility and limitation of movement. Many cases are 'idiopathic' (disease or ...

INTRODUCTION: One requirement for long-duration spaceflight is provisions for exercise to prevent deconditioning. We evaluated the feasibility of using a stair-stepper on a short-radius centrifuge for this purpose. METHODS: A stair-stepper was implemented on a centrifuge with a 2-m radius. There were 13 subjects who performed stepping exercise in a ...

In this prospective randomised study two treatments after non-traumatic medial meniscal tear diagnosed with radiological examination and magnetic resonance imaging were compared; arthroscopic partial meniscectomy followed by supervised exercise or supervised exercise alone. The aim was to evaluate knee function and physical activity. Ninety patients (mean age 56 years) were ...

The likelihood of sustaining an ACL injury in a noncontact situation is two to eight times greater for females than for males. However, the mechanism and risk factors of ACL injury are still unknown. We compared knee kinematics as well as electromyographic activity during landing between male and female athletes. ...

Minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is more technically demanding than procedures in Larger joints. The acquisition of adequate arthroscopic skills for TMJ surgery requires extensive specialized training that can hardly be obtained from patients. In order to introduce a proper animal model for TMJ arthroscopy, this ...

AIM: This paper reports a study of the effects of aquatic exercise on physical fitness (flexibility, strength and aerobic fitness), self-reported physical functioning and pain in adults with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee. BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis is a common cause of disability and a primary reason for hip and knee ...

CONTEXT: Rapid deceleration during sporting activities, such as landing from a jump, has been identified as a common mechanism of acute knee injury. Research into the role of potential sex differences in hip abductor function with lower extremity kinematics when landing from a jump is limited. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate sex ...

Joint mobilization and manipulation stimulate mechanoreceptors, which may influence the joint and surrounding muscles. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the effect of grade IV inferior hip joint mobilization on hip abductor torque. Thirty healthy subjects were randomly assigned to a control group (grade I inferior hip ...

STUDY DESIGN: Randomized, matched design. BACKGROUND: Optimal rehabilitation following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL-R) requires safe and effective interventions. Negative work exercise (via eccentric muscle activity) has the potential to be highly effective at producing large quadriceps size and strength gains early after ACL-R. The purpose of this investigation was ...

BACKGROUND: Lengthening of the lateral column is commonly used for reconstruction of the adult and pediatric flatfoot, but can result in supination of the foot and symptomatic lateral column overload. The addition of a medial cuneiform osteotomy has been used to redistribute forces to the medial column. The combined use ...

Kinematic changes after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury may play a role in the long-term development of osteoarthritis (OA). Some ACL-injured patients (copers) successfully return to demanding activities without the reconstructive surgery usually recommended for functionally unstable patients (noncopers). We determined whether copers exhibit less disruption to kinematics than noncopers, ...

CONTEXT: The sensorimotor system controls the balance between upper extremity stability and mobility during athletic performance. Research indicates that fatigue hampers sensorimotor system function; however, few investigators have studied functional fatigue or multijoint, multiplanar measures. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of functional fatigue on upper extremity position reproduction in overhead ...

BACKGROUND: Lower limb strengthening exercises are an important component of the treatment for knee osteoarthritis (OA). Strengthening the hip abductor and adductor muscles may influence joint loading and/or OA-related symptoms, but no study has evaluated these hypotheses directly. The aim of this randomised, single-blind controlled trial is to determine whether ...

BACKGROUND: Training of neuromuscular control has become increasingly important and plays a major role in rehabilitation of subjects with an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Little is known, however, of the influence of this training on knee stiffness during loading. Increased knee stiffness occurs as a loading strategy ...

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Long-term results of patients treated with conventional laminoplasty have shown a significant number of patients complicated with kyphotic deformity. The authors hypothesize that by maintaining the spinous process-ligament-muscle complex (SPLMC) during laminoplasty, followed by postoperative muscle strengthening exercises, the formation of kyphosis can be decreased. PURPOSE: To evaluate ...

AIM: The purpose of the investigation was to examine the acute effects of static stretch on the range of motion (ROM) of the lower extremities and trunk in elderly women, when stretching is performed with and without warming-up exercises. METHODS: Twenty-two sedentary subjects 65-85 years old (mean age: 76.5 years) ...

STUDY DESIGN: Experimental design with group comparisons. OBJECTIVES: To compare anterior tibial translation and muscle activity among different exercises for early weight-bearing and neuromuscular training in individuals with a unilateral anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and in uninjured controls. BACKGROUND: The effects of exercise and activity on tibial translation must ...

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the dynamic loads and intervertebral motions throughout the cervical spine during simulated rear impacts. METHODS: Using a biofidelic whole cervical spine model with muscle force replication and surrogate head and bench-top mini-sled, impacts were simulated at 3.5, 5, 6.5, and 8 g horizontal accelerations of the T1 ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Little evidence supports the prescription of pre-operative rehabilitation in the treatment of chronic anterior cruciate ligament-deficient (ACLD) subjects. The aim of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of a specific six-week pre-operative exercise programme on ACLD knees. METHOD: A single, masked, controlled study was designed. ...

STUDY DESIGN: Single-group repeated-measures design. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the ability of the wall slide exercise to activate the serratus anterior muscle (SA) at and above 90 degrees of humeral elevation. BACKGROUND: Strengthening of the SA is a critical component of rehabilitation for patients with shoulder impingement syndromes. Traditional SA exercises ...

The external knee adduction moment during walking and stair climbing has a characteristic double hump pattern. The magnitude of the adduction moment is associated with the development and progression of medial compartment knee osteoarthritis (OA). There is an inverse relationship between the magnitude of the second peak adduction moment and ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Splints are commonly applied to the wrist and hand to prevent and treat contracture after stroke. However, there have been few randomized trials of this intervention. We sought to determine whether wearing a hand splint, which positions the wrist in either a neutral or an extended position, ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of disk fenestration and ventral slot formation on vertebral motion unit (VMU) range of motion (ROM) and determine the effects of fenestration and ventral slot width on VMU ROM. SAMPLE POPULATION: C5-C6 VMUs from 10 skeletally mature canine cadavers. PROCEDURES: Specimens were assigned to 2 ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of lumbar spine stabilization using a pressure biofeedback unit on the electromyographic activity and angle of lateral pelvic tilt during hip abduction in a sidelying position. DESIGN: Comparative, repeated-measures study. SETTING: University research laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Eighteen able-bodied volunteers (9 men, 9 women) with no history ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of a short preoperative exercise intervention on the functional status, pain, and muscle strength of patients before and after total joint arthroplasty. METHODS: A total of 108 men and women scheduled for total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA) were randomized to a ...

OBJECTIVE: Quadriceps weakness is a risk factor for incident knee osteoarthritis (OA). We describe a randomized controlled trial of effects of lower-extremity strength training on incidence and progression of knee OA. METHODS: A total of 221 older adults (mean age 69 years) were stratified by sex, presence of radiographic knee ...

Accelerated rehabilitation after ACL reconstruction involves early weight-bearing. Exercises designed to achieve weight-bearing should be effective for the neuromuscular system and protect the knee from excessive anterior tibial translation. The aim of this study was to assess the anterior tibial translation under two different body-weight shift exercises at 2 weeks ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of energy storage and return (ESAR) prosthetic feet and multi-axis ankles on ground reaction forces and loading asymmetry between lower limbs in transtibial amputees. DESIGN: Subjects wore 2 different prosthetic feet with and without a multi-axis ankle and were analyzed using a blind repeated-measures multivariate ...

PURPOSE: We hypothesized that the initial rate (first 40 ms) of unilateral knee extensor torque development during a maximally fast isometric contraction would depend on the subjects' ability for fast neural activation and that it would predict bilateral jumping performance. METHODS: Nine males (21.8 +/- 0.9 yr, means +/- SD) ...

The primary aim of this study was to design and then test the intrarater reliability of a torque-controlled method of measuring passive abduction of the thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) joint. A secondary aim was to quantify passive CMC abduction in patients with and without contracture. Initially, clinicians used subjective feel (without ...

PURPOSE: In the classical style of cross-country skiing, the double-poling (DP) technique, which is regarded as an upper-body exercise, is used on the flatter parts of a course. Limited biomechanical and physiological data are available about DP compared with other cross-country skiing techniques. The purpose of the present study was ...

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether nausea or gastric dysrhythmia, including tachygastria, which was determined by electrogastrography (EGG), were observed during optokinetic motion sickness in healthy Japanese volunteers. Twelve volunteers (9 men and 3 women) participated in the study. The subjects were asked to sit in a ...

BACKGROUND: Researchers have theorized that the disproportionate number of anterior cruciate ligament injuries in females, as compared to males, may be related to knee laxity, which in turn may be influenced by hormones. The purpose of this study was to investigate the collective effects of gender, estrogen and exercise on ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of resistive exercise on the knee extension and flexion torque production during the rehabilitation period after multilevel orthopedic surgery. DESIGN: Randomized clinical trial. SETTING: Hospital rehabilitation department. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-nine children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy (CP) (age range, 6-16 y), randomly allocated to an exercise ...

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of simulated hamstring shortening on gait in normal subjects. Six normal subjects wore an adjustable brace to simulate three different hamstring lengths. Evaluation of the physiological cost index (PCI) and gait analysis revealed that simulated hamstring shortening produced adverse affects ...

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of instruction and scaling up a control parameter (velocity of throw) on changes in throwing pattern. Sixty adult female throwers (ages 20-26 years) were randomly placed into one offour practice conditions: (a) scale up on velocity with no instruction, (b) ...

The wear and wear debris from rotating-platform mobile-bearing knees and fixed-bearing knees were compared in knee joint-simulator studies. The wear rate of the fixed-bearing knees was found to increase as the kinematics were increased because of an increase in internal-external rotation and an increase in anterorposterior (AP) translation. The wear ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review examines recent in-vivo studies of ambulation and discusses the fundamental role of mechanics of ambulation in the initiation and progression of osteoarthritis at the knee. RECENT FINDINGS: Recent studies have supported earlier findings that a high adduction moment at the knee during ambulation was most ...

INTRODUCTION: Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is often attributed to abnormal patellar tracking. The Protonics knee orthosis was developed to reduce femoral internal rotation by altering pelvic alignment via hamstring activation. The purpose of this research was to determine if a single treatment with the orthosis improved lower extremity alignment during gait ...

OBJECTIVES: Because active and tonic sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle contraction is essential for recording the vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP), false-negative VEMPs are sometimes encountered in those who cannot sustain SCM muscle contraction by head elevation. Hence, the goal of this study was to investigate whether the effortless head rotation method ...

The most common modality for resistance exercise is free weight resistance. Alternative methods of providing external resistance have been investigated, in particular for use in microgravity environments such as space flight. One alternative modality is flywheel inertial resistance, which generates resistance as a function of the mass, distribution of mass, ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This case report describes the physical therapist examination, evaluation, and intervention for a patient with bilateral lower-extremity lymphedema who received complete decongestive physical therapy 2 days per week instead of the recommended daily frequency. CASE DESCRIPTION: The patient was a 55-year-old woman who developed bilateral lower-extremity grade ...

STUDY DESIGN: A double-blind randomized crossover experimental study with repeated measures, including a no-treatment control condition. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the initial effect of 2 mobilization with movement (MWM) treatment techniques performed in weight bearing and non-weight bearing on posterior talar glide and talocrural dorsiflexion in individuals with recurrent lateral ankle ...

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to test whether a low-frequency vibration-like stimulus (rapid variable resistance) applied during a single session of knee extension exercise would alter muscle performance. METHODS: Torque, knee joint angle, EMG activity of rectus femoris (RF) and vastus lateralis (VL) muscles, and VL muscle oxygenation status (near-infrared ...

We used dynamic radiostereometry to study the three-dimensional kinematics of the shoulder joint during active abduction. Twenty-five patients experiencing shoulder symptoms (Neer Stage 2) for more than 18 months, without total rotator cuff tears, participated. Eight men and four women without shoulder symptoms constituted controls. The rotation of the humeral ...

Rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) results in increased tibiofemoral laxity in the knee, thereby ultimately resulting in knee instability and dysfunction. However, ACL rupture does not automatically infer functional impairment and instability as confirmed by the ACL deficient (ACLD) coper, who can resume pre-morbid activity levels. Alternatively, an ...

AIM: The aim of this study was to compare proprioceptive function between computerized proprioception facilitation exercise (CPFE) and closed kinetic chain exercise (CKCE) for knee osteoarthritis. DESIGN: Randomized-controlled. SETTING: Kinesiology laboratory. PATIENTS: Eighty-one patients with bilateral knee osteoarthritis were randomly assigned to CPFE, CKCE, and control groups. INTERVENTION: Both exercise ...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of isokinetic exercise on strength, joint position sense and functionality in recreational athletes with functional ankle instability (FAI). Strength, proprioception and balance of 24 recreational athletes with unilateral FAI were evaluated by using isokinetic muscle strength measurement, ankle joint position ...