Abstract
Objective
To investigate ankle torque and steadiness in the intact leg of transtibial and transfemoral
unilateral amputees.
Design
Comparative study.
Setting
Medical rehabilitation centers.
Participants
Fifteen persons with a unilateral transfemoral amputation, 8 persons with a transtibial
amputation, and 14 able-bodied male participants volunteered to participate in this
study (N=37).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcomes Measures
Maximal isometric torque performed during ankle plantarflexion and dorsiflexion in
the intact limb of amputees and in the dominant limb of able-bodied persons. The coefficient
of variation (CV) of the plantarflexion torque was calculated over 5 seconds during
a submaximal isometric contraction (15%) in order to assess torque steadiness. Furthermore,
electromyographic activity (the root mean square amplitude) of the gastrocnemius medialis
and tibialis anterior muscles was analyzed.
Results
Plantarflexion maximal torque was significantly higher for the able-bodied group (115±39
Nm) than for the group with a transfemoral amputation (77±34 Nm) (P<.01), and did not differ between able-bodied group and the group with a transtibial
amputation (97±26 Nm) (P=.25). Furthermore, the transfemoral amputee group was 29% less steady than the able-bodied
group (P=.01). However, there were no significant differences in torque steadiness between
the able-bodied group and transtibial amputee group (P=.26) or between transtibial and transfemoral amputee groups (P=.27). The amputation had no significant effect between groups on dorsiflexion maximal
torque (P=.10), gastrocnemius medialis electromyography (EMG) (P=.85), tibialis anterior coactivation (P=.95), and coactivation ratio (P=.75).
Conclusion
The present study suggests that as the level of amputation progresses from below the
knee to above the knee, the effect on the intact ankle is progressively more negative.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
BMI (body mass index), CV (coefficient of variation), EMG (electromyography), MVC (maximal voluntary contraction)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 09, 2019
Footnotes
Supported by International Campus on Safety and Intermodality in Transportation, the Région Nord Pas de Calais, the European Community, the Délégation Régionale à la Recherche et à la Technologie, the Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche, and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
