Kinematic and Kinetic Compensations during Bilateral Landing Six Months after ACL Reconstruction

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tears often occur in landing situations due to unbalanced loading of the knee joint. In this study sagittal plane kinematics and kinetics of ACL reconstructed subjects were analysed during bilateral landing at six months after ACL reconstruction and compared to a matched healthy control group (CG). The ACL group showed reduced knee flexion excursions in the injured and non-injured legs. Internal knee extension moments were significantly increased in the non-injured legs compared to the injured legs. Therefore, our study revealed that ACL subjects showed compensations in landing biomechanics even at six months after ACL reconstruction. This could have high relevance with respect to re-injuries and degenerative joint diseases.