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Weightbearing and Nonweightbearing Ankle Dorsiflexion Range of Motion

Discussion in 'Biomechanics, Sports and Foot orthoses' started by NewsBot, Sep 22, 2012.

  1. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1

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    Weightbearing and Nonweightbearing Ankle Dorsiflexion Range of Motion: Are
    We Measuring the Same Thing?

    Alon Rabin and Zvi Kozol
    J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 2012;102 406-411
     
  2. Admin2

    Admin2 Administrator Staff Member

  3. No sh!t, Sherlock. Is the literature experiencing the same renaissance we had a decade or more ago? Two papers today posted by Newsbot took me back in time...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGI8YNa5f-M
     
  4. I have read this paper and actually really liked it. It seemed to thoroughly review the problems with ankle joint dorsiflexion measurements which, I think, is very important for clinical considerations, especially for those who are doing Achilles tendon lengthening procedures using only the results from their manual examination of ankle joint dorsiflexion to determine who needs surgery or not.
     
  5. David Smith

    David Smith Well-Known Member

  6. David Smith

    David Smith Well-Known Member

    If you want to measure the ankle dorsiflexion rom for its own sake then of course you need to isolate that joint as much as possible. However I consider the extended knee, flexed hip position more indicative of the functional range of motion as this takes into account the effect of the whole posterior muscle groups, GSC and hamstrings.

    Then, after mobilisations and releases, one can assess the change, usually the increase in this RoM, and know that this is likely to be translated into increased RoM thru the gait cycle.

    So, in the examples shown in the paper quoted the RoM is measured with flexed knee and it was concluded that the greater RoM achieved in weight bearing was a great deal to do with the increased moment available to that action. This seems a fairly reasonable conclusion and we may think then that since we have similar high external dorsiflexion moments available during walking then there would be a concomitant and similar angular ankle RoM available. Seems fair enough, except that in this case, where the posterior muscle groups are short or stiff, there may also be an enormous increase in the internal plantarflexion RoM due to tightness or stiffness of the posterior muscle groups. Therefore the net dorsiflexion moment may be much less and so, it must be concluded, the attainable dorsiflexion RoM would also be much less.

    If you have not assessed these groups and whether there is any change in their length or stiffness post intervention then the measurement made with flexed knee may be spurious in terms of assumed dorsiflexion RoM during gait.

    regards Dave Smith
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2012
  7. David:

    The assessment of ankle joint dorsiflexion with the knee extended is likely more clinically relevant for walking activites while the assessement of ankle joint dorsiflexion with the knee flexed is likely more clinically relevant for running activities due to the difference in temporal patterns of maximum ankle joint dorsiflexion and knee joint position during both walking and running activities.
     
  8. David Smith

    David Smith Well-Known Member

    True enough

    Dave:good:
     
  9. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Effect of the tester level of experience on the criterion-related validity and intersession reliability of five different ankle dorsal flexion range of motion measures.
    G?mez-Jim?nez, F.; Ayala, F.; Cejudo, A.; Baranda, P. S. de; Santonja, F.
    Cuadernos de Psicolog?a del Deporte 2015 Vol. 15 No. 3 pp. 123-134
     
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