SEDL / STP / STP1022-EB / STP19475S

Modeling Forces on the Anterior Cruciate Knee Ligament During Backward Falls While Skiing

Bally, A
Mechanical engineer, student, and mechanical engineer, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Laboratoire de Mécanique Appliquée, Lausanne,

Boreiko, M
Mechanical engineer, student, and mechanical engineer, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Laboratoire de Mécanique Appliquée, Lausanne,

Bonjour, F
Mechanical engineer, student, and mechanical engineer, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Laboratoire de Mécanique Appliquée, Lausanne,

Brown, CA
Scientific collaboratorassistant professor, École Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneWorcester Polytechnic Institute, LausanneWorcester, MA

Pages: 10    Published: Jan 1989

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Abstract

In recent years a dramatic increase has been observed in isolated anterior cruciate knee ligament (ACL) lesions and in knee sprains where the principle injury has been to the ACL. Traditional mechanisms for this type of injury are not, in general, consistent with the type of fall nor do they explain why there should be such an increase in ACL injuries. One new mechanism that has been proposed is the boot-induced anterior drawer. In a fall involving this mechanism, a skier is off-balance posteriorly such that loads are applied to the tail of the ski tending to push it forward and rotate the tip down. The loads are transmitted to the skier through the boot which pushes the tibia anteriorly relative to the femur, thus stressing the ACL. In this work, the loads on the ACL have been modeled during a boot-induced anterior drawer incident. These loads have been shown to increase in the impact phase with increased slope and in the impact and rotation phases with increased boot stiffness in backward lean.