INTRA-LIMB JOINT CONFIGURATION CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNEE JOINT LOADING IN A SIMULATED LANDING TASK

Abstract

Causative insight into the link between important aspects of an athlete’s kinematics and knee joint loading in potentially injurious landings remains limited. The aim of this simulation study was to develop insight into the intra-limb configuration contributions to sagittal plane knee joint loading in drop (0.46m) landings. Notably accentuated (up to a 1.53 N.m.kg-1) peak knee joint extensor moments (Mek) were incurred with increased ankle, knee and hip joint flexion across the landing phase. While the peak Mek was alleviated with reduced ankle and knee joint flexion, a marginal, participant-specific effect was evident with a similarly reduced hip joint flexion. The extended use of customised simulations to understand the unique role of each lower-extremity joint in the kinematic chain was warranted to inform injury prevention strategies.