Does general joint hypermobility associated with the knee laxity?

Abstract

It has been reported that over 70% of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries occur in noncontact situations and that females are at 2 to 8 times greater risk of ACL injury than males. Increased joint laxity and reduced knee stiffness in female knees have been suggested as possible explanations for the higher ACL injury rates in females (Boguszewski et al, 2015) Anterior cruciate ligament rupture leads to the front - lateral knee joint instability, quadriceps muscle hypotrophy, joint surface degeneration, meniscus injuries and the recurrent pain. The main problems arising for the following reasons: knee proprioception dysfunction, balance impairment and gait dysfunction, a lot of difficulties in casual activity, especially in sport and physical activities. In a 'normal' body, ligaments (which are the tissues that connect bones to each other) are naturally tight in such a way that the joints are restricted to 'normal' ranges of motion. This creates normal joint stability. Someone with ligamentous laxity, by definition, has loose ligaments. If muscular control does not compensate for ligament laxity, it may result joint instability.Research aim – does general joint hypermobility associated with the anterior knee laxity in healthy and ACL deficient males and females? Materials and methods. General joint hypermobility was assessed with Beighton score (Hakim et al 2003). The Beighton score is a popular screening technique for hypermobility. This is a nine – point scale and requires the performance of 5 manoeuvres, four passive bilateral and one active unilateral performance. It was originally introduced for epidemiological studies involving the recognition of hypermobility in populations. The Beighton score has subsequently been used internationally to define generalized joint laxity in all populations and all age groups. Most of the available prevalence studies used different cut-offs, ranging from >3 hypermobile j