Neuromuscular asymmetries in anterior cruciate ligament patients and in healthy subjects using the twitch interpolation technique

Cescon, Corrado and Maffiuletti, Nicola and Togninalli, Danilo and Clijsen, Ron and Schneebeli, Alessandro and Barbero, Marco (2014) Neuromuscular asymmetries in anterior cruciate ligament patients and in healthy subjects using the twitch interpolation technique. In: Proceedings of the XX Congress of the International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology, 14-18 July 2014, Rome, Italy.

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Abstract

AIM: The objective of this methodological study was to examine the validity of the twitch interpolation technique for evaluating neuromuscular quadriceps asymmetries. METHODS: Fifty-seven subjects participated in the study (19 healthy, 24 with unilaterally- and 14 with bilaterally-reconstructed anterior cruciate ligament). Supramaximal electrical paired stimuli were delivered to the quadriceps muscle during and after maximal voluntary contractions (MVC). The main outcomes were left and right MVC torque, activation level (AL) and resting doublet (DB) torque. Percent asymmetries between the left and the right side were computed for each parameter and MVC asymmetry (representing strength asymmetry) was plotted against AL (“neural”) asymmetry and DB (“contractile”) asymmetry. RESULTS: Significant positive correlations were observed between AL asymmetry and MVC asymmetry (r=0.404; p=0.004) and between DB asymmetry and MVC asymmetry (r=0.506; p<0.001). An index of global neuromuscular asymmetry was then computed by summing up AL and DB asymmetries. This neuromuscular asymmetry index was strongly correlated with MVC asymmetry (r=0.649; p<0.001). CONCLUSION: These results establish the validity of the twitch interpolation technique, which is based on the simple analysis of voluntary and evoked torque traces, for the evaluation of neuromuscular quadriceps asymmetries. Our present findings also provide new insights into the contribution of neural (activation level) and muscular (contractility) mechanisms to voluntary force-generation capacity of the quadriceps femoris muscle. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The study was supported by the Yellow P-Sport Foundation.

Item Type:	Article in conference proceedings or Presentation at a conference (Poster)
Subjects:	Engineering > General engineering > Bioengineering, biomedical engineering & clinical engineering
Department/unit:	Dipartimento economia aziendale, sanità e sociale > Laboratorio di ricerca in riabilitazione
Depositing User:	Corrado Cescon
Date Deposited:	07 Jul 2014 05:30
Last Modified:	14 May 2021 11:00
URI:	http://repository.supsi.ch/id/eprint/4707

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