Comparison Of Muscle And Bone Characteristics And Stretch-Shortening Cycle Capabilities Between Individuals With And Without Chronic Ankle Instability

Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is the most common injury in athletics and can result in lasting deficits in strength, ability to perform everyday tasks and recurrent-sprains. Many studies have observed long term ligamentous damage about the ankle joint, but no known research has studied the possible downstream effects in bone and muscle health in the lower limb and performance. The purpose of this study was to compare muscle and bone characteristics as well as stretch-shortening cycle capabilities of females with CAI with to a control group with no history of ankle injury. Individuals with CAI (n=10) and controls (n=10) were recruited to participate. Subjects’ lower limb morphology was tested using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) and performance measures were obtained using a unilateral hopping protocol. The CAI group was found to have significantly lower tibia mass and density at the most distal scan when compared to controls. There were also trends that suggested muscle density and force production in the CAI group was lower than controls. This investigation adds to existing evidence that there are long term deficits present in individuals with CAI in muscle and bone health and these may be associated with lower levels of force production capabilities.