Neuromuscular control of the ankle during pre-landing in athletes with chronic ankle instability: Insights from statistical parametric mapping and muscle co-contraction analysis

Abstract

Objective: The present study aimed to compare the neuromuscular control of the muscles around the ankle between athletes with CAI and without history of any ankle sprain (Non-CAI) by using statistic parametric mapping (SPM) and co-contraction analyses.

Design: Cross-sectional study; Setting: Laboratory; Participants: 40 athletes (20 CAI, 20 Non-CAI) were pair-matched for age and gender.

Main outcome measures: Neuromuscular control was examined using surface electromyography (EMG) amplitude and muscle co-contraction 200 ms before foot-contact with the ground during a jump-landing task.

Results: The EMG amplitude of tibialis anterior, peroneus longus, and gastrocnemius medialis were analyzed using statistic parametric mapping. The CAI group exhibited decreased EMG amplitude of peroneus longus during preparation for foot-contact. There were no significant co-contraction differences between groups.

Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that SPM combined with the co-contraction provides a comprehensive EMG analysis to detect the differences of neuromuscular control between athletes with and without chronic ankle instability. Additionally, this finding indicates that CAI contributed to altered neuromuscular control during the pre-landing phase, which may contribute to re-injury mechanisms.

Keywords: Chronic ankle instability; Muscle co-contraction index; Neuromuscular control; Statistical Parametric Mapping.