Electronic Method (Pro-Kin) for Improving And Speeding up The Recovery after Ankle Sprain

Riccardo Marvulli; Giancarlo Ianieri; Giovanni Pignatelli; Dario Santagati; Maurizio Ranieri; Marisa Megna

doi:10.2174/1871530322666220523155452

Electronic Method (Pro-Kin) for Improving And Speeding up The Recovery after Ankle Sprain

Endocr Metab Immune Disord Drug Targets. 2022 May 23. doi: 10.2174/1871530322666220523155452. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Riccardo Marvulli^{1

2}, Giancarlo Ianieri¹, Giovanni Pignatelli^{1

3}, Dario Santagati^{1

4}, Maurizio Ranieri¹, Marisa Megna¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sensory Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Policlinico of Bari, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy.
² Local Healthcare Company of Bari-Health District of Bari City,Italy.
³ Local Healthcare Company of Brindisi-Health District of Brindisi 1.
⁴ Rehabilitation Center Marcoccio SRL, Via Umberto I, 121, 95129 Catania, Italy.

PMID: 35616674
DOI: 10.2174/1871530322666220523155452

Abstract

Background and objective: Ankle sprains, very common injuries occurred especially during sports activities, are mainly caused by indirect trauma, which influences exaggerated stress exceeding the strength of stabilization mechanisms. Up to 85% of such injuries result from a sudden flexion and inversion of the foot. In this study, we analyzed the effectiveness of the platform Pro-kin, an innovative system that has given us the possibility to combine the functionality of the older proprioceptive boards with very accurate software in order to improve and accelerate the recovery after ankle injuries.

Methods: 30 patients with moderate ankle sprain outcomes in two groups (A and B) were included in this study. Group A was only treated with proprioceptive exercises for 3 weeks, while the group B was trained with the innovative Pro-kin. In both groups, we evaluated VAS scale, the ratio between the number of circumductions performed by the injured foot and the time spent on doing them and the percentage of load among the injured and the healthy foot in statics and dynamics with electronic baropodometry. Our data has been collected at t0 (beginning of study), t1(one week later), t2 (two weeks later), t3 (one month later), t4 (two months later), and then analyzed by the two-way analysis of variance (2-way ANOVA) test.

Results: At t0 no statistical differences of pain in the 2 groups (3.3 and 3.4); the values were similar, as well as at time t1, t2, t3 and t4. Therefore we deduce that Pro-kin treatment is not painful. The number of circumductions performed was definitely better in B group since the first week; for the A group the values considerably increased only at t3 (one month later). Comparing the load percentages on two feet detected by the electronic baropodometer in statics and in dynamics, we deduced that the patients of A group tend to lean mostly on the healthy foot than B group.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates that new technological resources (such as Pro-kin) may be helpful to improve and speed up the recovery of ankle sprain in athletes.

Keywords: Ankle sprain; balance; electronic baropodometry; electronic software platform; proprioceptive exercises; proprioceptive receptors.