Lower Extremity Review
Background: A 22-year-old, Division I male football defensive back, with no previous history of ankle injury, sustained a left ankle injury during competition. The mechanism of injury was direct contact to the lateral lower leg from an opponent forcing the ankle toward eversion. Initial on-field evaluation revealed palpable…
Background: Syndesmotic injuries make up 12% of all ankle sprains, but 25% of ankle sprains in football. Historically, screw fixation has been the predominant type of surgery, which provides stabilization to the syndesmosis joint. However, the strong fixation procedure can cause a loss of movement in the early recovery phase…
Background: Syndesmosis ankle sprains account for 25% of all ankle sprains in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football athletes. Typical return-to-play (RTP) time for an ankle syndesmosis sprain is approximately 8 weeks. However, in a small randomized controlled trial, it was found that the platelet rich…
Osteoarthritis (OA), the leading cause of disability among adults, has no cure and is associated with significant comorbidities. The premise of this randomized clinical trial is that, in a population at risk, a 48-month program of dietary weight loss and exercise will result in less incident structural knee OA compared to control.
Based on data from nearly 50,000 adults in the United Kingdom, researchers from the U.S. National Institutes of Health have shown an association between dementia risk and daily sedentary behavior. Though the study cannot establish a causal link, it does support the idea that more time spent not moving–such as…
Hip-focused physical therapy for older adults with chronic low back pain, hip pain, and hip muscle weakness may offer promise to address pain-related disability and functional limitations. NIA-funded scientists recently conducted a clinical trial comparing hip- versus back-focused therapies.
Talus fractures are often the result of high-energy mechanisms and can lead to devastating complications. Treatment is often operative; however, the appropriate timing of this has been debated. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of the early treatment of talus fractures.
This research explored and analyzed the effects of early partial weight-bearing rehabilitative exercise on postoperative recovery after Sanders IV calcaneal fractures. Researchers from The Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital in China worked with 86 patients hospitalized with…
Studies show that fewer than 1 in 5 middle-age adults engage in regular exercise. But nearly everyone engages in micropatterns of physical activity, aka short bouts of daily living activities—in other words, chores or errands. Now, a study from Australia has looked at the associations of bouts of moderate-to-vigorous…
Innovative shoe insoles, designed to enhance sensory information on the plantar surface of the feet, could help to improve walking in people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This study sought to compare the effects of wearing textured versus smooth insoles, on measures of gait, foot sensation, and patient-reported outcomes (PROs), in people with MS.
Are so-called “Weekend Warriors”—those folks who cram all their physical activity into 1–2 days—better than those who distribute their activity more evenly over the week? In a study from Massachusetts General Hospital, researchers looked at 90,000 people who wore accelerometers for a week.
Aging is typically associated with decreased muscle strength and rate of force development (RFD), partly explained by motor unit remodeling due to denervation, and subsequent loss of fast-twitch type II myofibers. Exercise is commonly advocated to counteract this detrimental loss. However, it is unclear how lifelong…
Ingrown toenails (onychocryptoses) are one of the most common nail pathologies, yet there is a lack of data to assess the evidence surrounding the nail surgery procedures from which clinicians must choose.
By Victoria Exley, BSc (Hons ) Pod, MSc; Katherine Jones, PhD; Grace O’Carroll, PhD; Judith Watson, PhD; and Michael Backhouse, PhD
Natural forces affect every step we take. When the forces are too great for plantar tissues to handle, overloading occurs. Tissue overload can occur throughout the kinetic chain, wreaking havoc from end to end. Over the past 15 to 20 years, research has focused on tissue overloading as the most common cause of overuse injury. Overload is caused by…
By Paul Graham, B App Sc (Pod), FAAPSM
Falls are a significant health concern especially among older adults. While falls are associated with osteoarthritis (OA) and persistent pain at the hip and knee, falls have not been investigated in people with chronic ankle symptoms. According to qualitative research on individuals with…
By Munira M. Al Mahrouqi, PT, PhD; Bill Vicenzino, PT, PhD; David A. MacDonald, PT, PhD; and Michelle D. Smith, PT, PhD
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