Article
Ankle orthoses effect on single-limb standing balance in athletes with functional ankle instability,☆☆

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-9993(98)90091-0Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective: To test whether a rigid or a flexible ankle orthosis affects postural sway in single-limb stance as quantified by stabilometry.

Design: Crossover trial.

Setting: University laboratory.

Participants: Twenty-two athletes with functional ankle instability (consecutive sample of patients with recurrent ankle sprains but without mechanical instability) and 22 healthy athletes (control group of volunteers matched to age, height, weight, physical activity).

Interventions: Stabilometry in single-limb stance on a force platform. Participants were tested on each leg with and without a rigid or a flexible ankle orthosis. The order of test conditions was randomized.

Main Outcome Measures: Sway velocities, sway pattern, and sway area as calculated from center of pressure movements. The two groups were compared by Mann-Whitney test, and the different orthoses within each group were compared by Wilcoxon test, paired samples (type I error 5%, Bonferroni adjustment).

Results: In athletes with functional ankle instability, both a rigid and a flexible ankle orthosis significantly reduced mediolateral sway velocity. A flexible ankle orthosis also changed sway pattern significantly, by reducing the percentage of linear movements of less than 5° per .01 sec.

Conclusions: In athletes with functional ankle instability, ankle orthoses reduce mediolateral sway velocity, possibly because of improved mediolateral proprioception.

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    Braces can augment stability by providing additional neurologic feedback through cutaneous and mechanoreceptors. Multiple studies have suggested that adequately applied braces or orthoses do not adversely affect performance.44,59,60 The brace should be designed to allow dorsi/plantar flexion while resisting coronal and rotational loads.

  • Ankle sprains and instability

    2014, Medical Clinics of North America
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Supported by a grant from the “Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft” (Ho 1275-2).

☆☆

No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.

1

Dr. Baier is currently affiliated with James Paget Hospital, Great Yarmouth, United Kingdom.

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