IN VIVO EVALUATION OF ANKLE LIGAMENT FORCES USING A FIBER OPTIC TRANSDUCER

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Successful injury prevention, treatment and rehabilitation require a clear understanding of ligament function and forces acting on these ligaments, especially for injuries to the lateral ankle ligaments, which are very common in many kinds of sports. Several authors (Bahr et al. 1998; Renström, et al., 1988; Sauer et al., 1978) investigated forces or tensile strength of the ligament talofibulare anterior (LTFA) in vitro. There is, however, a lack of information of investigations with direct measurement of forces in this structure. The aim of this study was to apply a fiber optic transducer in vivo in order to register forces in the LTFA during different natural movements of the ankle joint under varied load conditions.