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JOURNAL
OF
SPORTS SCIENCE &
MEDICINE
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Research
article
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POSTERIOR TIBIAL SLOPE AS A RISK FACTOR FOR ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT RUPTURE IN SOCCER PLAYERS |
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Seçkin Şenışık1, Cengizhan Özgürbüz1  ,
Metin Ergün1, Oğuz Yüksel1, Emin Taşkıran2,
Çetin İşlegen1, and Ahmet Ertat1 |
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1Sports Medicine, and 2Orthopedics and Traumatology Departments, Ege University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey |
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© Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2011) 10, 763 - 767 |
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| ABSTRACT | |||
| Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the primary stabilizer of
the knee. An impairment of any of the dynamic or static stability providing
factors can lead to overload on the other factors and ultimately to deterioration
of knee stability. This can result in anterior tibial translation and rupture
of the ACL. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of tibial
slope on ACL injury risk on soccer players. A total of 64 elite soccer players
and 45 sedentary controls were included in this longitudinal and controlled
study. The angle between the tibial mid-diaphysis line and the line between
the anterior and posterior edges of the medial tibial plateau was measured
as the tibial slope via lateral radiographs. Individual player exposure,
and injuries sustained by the participants were prospectively recorded.
Eleven ACL injuries were documented during the study period. Tibial slope
was not different between soccer players and sedentary controls. Tibial
slope in the dominant and non-dominant legs was greater for the injured
players compared to the uninjured players. The difference reached a significant
level only for the dominant legs (p < 0.001). While the tibial slopes
of the dominant and non-dominant legs were not different on uninjured players
(p > 0.05), a higher tibial slope was observed in dominant legs of injured
players (p < 0.05). Higher tibial slope on injured soccer players compared
to the uninjured ones supports the idea that the tibial slope degree might
be an important risk factor for ACL injury. Key words: Tibial slope, knee, ACL injury, soccer, dominant leg, exercise. |
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