Abstract

Tears and rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which has an important function in knee joint stability, are very common and more so in sports. ACL injury can be managed in two ways. One alternative pertains to conservative therapy whereas the second variant is surgical intervention (reconstruction). The number of ACL reconstructions has risen recently. The purpose of this study was to analyze the postural changes in bipedal stance at application of a stimulus from external environment and the resultant modification in the visual scene in patients with ACL reconstruction. The examined group consisted of 25 subjects – 11 patients with ACL reconstruction and 14 healthy adults. The external stimulus was realized by striking a flying ball; the modification of visual scene was obtained using special glasses. The 3D videography method was applied to evaluate postural changes. The most differences during three various monitored measurements were found for kinematic parameters of the lower limbs and the trunk in each group (both patients and healthy subjects). Statistically significant differences between the group of patients and healthy subjects (between both groups) were obtained for comparison of measurements with an unmodified visual scene and measurements with a modified visual scene, especially for the elbow and shoulder joints. Verf.-Referat