Assessment of Postural stability in young, phisically active men with the history of ankle sprain

Background: Ankle sprain results in damage, not only to the ligaments, but also to many mechanoreceptors which enable detection of motion and joint position. The aim of the study was to detect deficits in postural stability in the sample of patients with the history of low degree ankle sprains.

Material and methods: The sample comprised 27 young, physically active men. The study group consisted of 16 of subjects, who sustained ankle sprain injuries and the control group, comprised of the remaining 14 subjects with no history of such injuries. The research was carried out using two methods of postural stability measurement, namely: via the stabilographic platform (static postural stability) and the YU-Balance-test (dynamic postural stability).

Resuslts: The overall Y-balance test result and the average values for the reachinbg tests in the posteromedial and posterolateral directions were higher in the control grouip compared to the study group, while for the reaching in the forward direction both groups achieved almost identical resultrs (no statistically significant differences observed). The mean value of sway path length was stgatistically significantly higher (by (85.08mm) in the study group as compared with the control group, which is indicative of the impaired postuiral stability in the latter group (p = 0.03708). A higher maximum sway length and higher average spoeed values were noted in subjects with the history of ankle sprain, suggesting a weaker postural control in this group, but these differences were statistically insignificant.

Conclusions: In the studyu group, ankle sprain injury resulted in the weakening of postural stability under static conditions, but did not signicantlyu affect the dynamic stability.