Article

Tibial stress fractures, which are among the most common running
related injuries, have been associated with increased lower extremity loading
(i.e., peak positive acceleration of the tibia, vertical force impact peak, and
average and instantaneous vertical force loading rates) during initial contact.
This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a gait retraining program
designed to reduce this loading during running and to assess the short-term
persistence of these reductions. METHODS: ten runners (six females and four
males) with peak positive tibial acceleration greater than 8g, measured in an
initial screening, participated in the retraining program. During the retraining
sessions, subjects ran on a treadmill and received real-time visual feedback from
an accelerometer attached to their distal tibias. Tibial acceleration and
vertical ground reaction force data were collected from subjects during
overground data collection sessions held pre-training, post-training, and at a
1-month follow-up. FINDINGS: peak positive acceleration of the tibia, vertical
force impact peak, and average and instantaneous vertical force loading rates
were all reduced immediately following the gait retraining. The decrease in
tibial acceleration was nearly 50%. The reductions in vertical force loading
rates and vertical force impact peak were approximately 30% and 20%,
respectively. These reductions were maintained at the 1-month follow-up.
INTERPRETATION: subjects were able to run with reduced tibial acceleration and
vertical force loading immediately following completion of the gait retraining
program and at the 1-month follow-up evaluation. This may reduce their risk of
stress fractures.
CI - Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Langue : ANGLAIS