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The influence of orthoses on the proprioception of the ankle joint

  • Ankle
  • Published:
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

The ankle joints of 14 healthy volunteers and 16 patients with unstable ankle joints were tested regarding their functional and proprioceptive capabilities. All of them were active athletes. Three tests were used of the study: single-leg stance test, single-leg jumping course test, angle-reproduction test. The influence of three stabilization devices (lace-on-brace/“Mikros”, stirrup-brace/ “Aircast”, taping) on the proprioceptivity of stable and unstable ankle joints was evaluated. The scores of the singleleg jumping course without any stabilizing device (category “standard”) ranged between 8.06 and 13.68 (10.65±1.29). In the categories “Mikros” (9.85±0.99), and “Aircast” (9.99±1.14) as well as with the tape bandage (10.27±0.81) better scores were achieved. The differences “standard vs. Mikros” and “standard vs. Aircast” revealed a significant reduction of the scores with orthoses (P<0.01). The error rate in the single-leg stance test was within the range of 0–16 (5.12±2.85) for the category “standard”. It was lower for the categories “Mikros” (3.65±2.65) and “Aircast” (4.17±2.59). The error rate was highest in the group with a tape bandage (5.79±3.53). The differences “standard vs Mikros” as well as “standard vs. Aircast” were significant (P<0.01). There was also a significant difference between these categories regarding injured and not injured ankle joints (P<0.01). The angle-reproduction-test showed higher values for the category “standard” (2.36°±0.97) in comparison to the categories “Mikros” (1.46°±0.72), “Aircast” (1.62°±0.91) and “taping” (1.84°±0.41). In the category “standard” the reproduction error was lower testing not injured ankle joints (2.30°±1.04) than testing the group of unstable ankle joints (2.44°±0.81), whereas in all other categories the reproduction error was higher in the group of not injured joints. The differences in all measurements between “standard vs. Mikros” and “standard vs. Aircast” were significant (P<0.01). The results of the three tests showed a highly significant difference between injured and not injured ankle joints (P<0.01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Albert-Schweizer-Straße 33, D-48129, Münster, Germany

    J. Jerosch, I. Hoffstetter & H. Bork

  2. Institute of Sports Medicine, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Albert-Schweizer-Straße 33, D-48129, Münster

    J. Jerosch & M. Bischof

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  1. J. Jerosch
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  2. I. Hoffstetter
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  3. H. Bork
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  4. M. Bischof
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Jerosch, J., Hoffstetter, I., Bork, H. et al. The influence of orthoses on the proprioception of the ankle joint. Knee Surg, Sports traumatol, Arthroscopy 3, 39–46 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01553524

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