An investigation into the vertical ground reaction force status in the coper and non-coper ACL-deficient knee subjects during walking on level ground

An immaculate review of the literature reveals some changes on the vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) in ACL deficient knee subjects. However, the details are not clear yet. The current study aimed to study these changes in the ACL-deficient and apparently healthy knees of the coper and non-coper ACL-deficient knee subjects in comparison with the normal knees. Sixteen unilateral ACL-torn subjects included 8 copers and 8 non-copers were recruited in this quasi-experimental study and were compared with 16 normal knee subjects (8 subjects matched to each coper and non-coper groups). All subjects walked barefoot and with their preferred speed in a 6-meter walkway and placed their wanted foot on the platform of a Zebris pedobarograph tool. The patients were asked to place their injured and healthy feet separately on the platform. The control group placed their foot matched to the ACL-deficient legs on the platform. The testes were repeated so much to have five acceptable trials. The outcome measures included the peak F1Z, F2Z, F3Z of the vertical ground reaction force values and the times to reach these peak values as well as total stance time of the tested feet. The results showed only a significant lower F1Z value in the non-coper ACL-deficient knee subjects (p=0.008). No significant changes were shown in the F2Z, F3Z or the times reach to F1Z, F2Z and F3Z values (p>0.05). The stance time of the coper ACL-deficient knee subjects increased significantly in the non-coper ACL-deficeint knee subjects when compared to the coper and healthy knees (p=0.005). The reduced F1Z of the vertical ground reaction force at initial contact as well as increased total stance time seen only in non-coper ACL-deficient knee subjects reveals inadequate compensatory mechanism in these patients as a counter force stress at initial contact and weight bearing. However, the coper ACL-deficient knee subjects compensated these forces with good strategies and walked very similar to the control group.