Return to Sport Monitoring after ACL Injury in Canadian Collegiate U-Sport Athletes

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries occur frequently in field/court sports and often require surgical reconstruction (ACLR) and a long rehabilitation that can last 12 months or more. Return to sport (RTS) criteria are not well defined and this may be one factor contributing to the high ACL reinjury rate and sport participation attrition. A central problem with RTS testing is that ACL reinjury often occurs up to two years after the primary injury long after an athlete is cleared to RTS. Routine neuromuscular testing inside an athlete monitoring program is one method that could help identify athletes who exhibit delayed progression after RTS clearance but this has not been studied in collegiate athletes. The aim of this project is to perform routine neuromuscular monitoring in collegiate U-sport athletes to examine the effects of RTS training load on neuromuscular function. Building from previous work, a battery of neuromuscular tests will be used including force-velocity testing using a novel robotic servomotor leg press and a functional load-velocity jump test protocol on force plates. In addition to routine neuromuscular monitoring, assessments of the multi-joint force-velocity relationship will be included to understand the effects of ACL injury and RTS training load on muscle function.

Faculty Supervisor:

Matthew Jordan

Student:

Partner:

Université Jean Monnet

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Calgary

Program: