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New PhD on implications for ACL injury screening and prevention
Intoduction
Friday Nov 1, MD Eirik Klami Kristianslund defended his PhD-thesis, entitled ”Motion analysis of drop jumps and cutting maneuvers - Methodology and implications for ACL injury screening and prevention”.
Why are female handball players so prone to ACL tears?
Is there anything we can do to avoid these injuries? Eirik Klami Kristianslund (picture) has spent the last 7 years in searching an answer.
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are a serious problem in team sports, due to their high incidence and serious consequences.
Motion patterns, specifically knee abduction moments and knee valgus angles, are likely important factors in injury causation, based on studies of injury mechanisms, risk factors and interventions.
The injury commonly occurs during single-leg loading situations like sidestep cutting. Nevertheless, double-legged drop jumps tests are often used for injury risk screening.
This thesis of Eirik Kristianslund presents results from 3D motion analysis of drop jumps and sidestep cutting of 193 elite female handball players.
Sidestep cutting technique explained 62% of the variance in maximum knee abduction moments. To reduce knee loading, athletes should perform sidestep cutting with narrow cuts, a minimum of knee valgus and toe landings, as is emphasized in existing prevention programs.
Comparing drop jumps and sidestep cutting, there was a poor correlation of knee abduction moments, while knee valgus angles correlated moderately. Drop jump tests will not predict knee loading during the situations where injury commonly occurs.
The choice of methods in 3D motion analysis can affect conclusions. Unmatched filters for the filtering of force and marker data in motion analysis of high-impact movements lead to joint moment artifacts. In sidestep cutting, these artifacts changed results. Matched cut-off frequencies should be used for the filtering of force and marker data in inverse dynamics to avoid this.
1000 female elite handball and football players tested since 2007
Eirik´s PhD is part of a large ongoing cohort study aimed at investigating risk factors for non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in female elite handball and football players. Almost 1000 players are tested now, and findings will help us to better identify players at risk and to optimize current prevention strategies.
Eirik´s supervisors are Associate Professor Tron Krosshaug, Professor Lars Engebretsen, and Professor Roald Bahr.
Read more about Eirik´s PhD-project and publications.
Dissertation Committee
Chair: Prof. Inger Holm, Division of Surgery and Clinical Neurosurgery, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
1. Opponent: Prof. James A Ashton-Miller, Biomechanics Research Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
2. Opponent: Prof. Romain Seil, Department of Ortopaedic Surgery, Centre Hospitalier of Luxembourg, Clinique d'Eich, Luxembourg.
Head of the dissertation committe: Prof. Jan Erik Madsen, Department of orthopedics, Oslo University Hospital
Program on November 1 (Grønt Auditorium, Labbygget, Oslo University Hospital)
10:15 - 11:00 Trial lecture "The biomechanics of knee injuries: mechanisms and risk factors, evidence and knowledge gaps”
13:15 - 16:00 PhD presentation and defense
Welcome to this open ceremony!
The trial lecture and the PhD defense will be held in English.