Impairments in Dynamic Postural Stability Following a Lateral Ankle Sprain

Lateral ankle sprains are the most common injury in sports, with an estimated 25,000 per day. Current research assesses postural control deficits following lateral ankle sprains; however most studies use static stances instead of dynamic stances. Most of the current research compares injured limb to non-injured limb, however bilateral impairments have been found to be present. Twenty Division I student athletes will be recruited to participate in this study, ten subjects will be NCAA Division I student athletes who have suffered a lateral ankle sprain. Control subjects will be healthy NCAA Division I student athletes, matched by height and gender with the injured subjects. Dynamic postural control will be evaluated by gait initiation, which will be assessed using the Vicon system and then compared to matched healthy control values. MANOVA revealed no significant difference in dynamic postural control following a lateral ankle sprain when compared to control group. Significant differences were found in range of motion assessment as well as perceived function assessment.