Razi Journal of Medical Sciences

Background: Women and men significantly differ in the extent of anterior cruciate ligament injury. Based on the evidence, gender especially contributes in non-contact mechanism of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. The purpose of this study was to compare the movement patterns of the ACL injury risk between men and women during cutting maneuver.

Methods: 13 men and 13 women of national squash team (mean (SD) age: 23.04±6.6 and 24.7±4.1, respectively) selected as subjects of this study. Reflective markers set on their body and cutting maneuver recorded in sagittal and frontal plane by two high speed cameras. “Winanalyze Software” analyzed the recorded video and the collected data were analyzed using independent t test through SPSS 21 and p value  less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The results showed that at initial contact there was significant difference in knee flexion (p=0.001), knee valgus (p=0.013) and trunk flexion angles p=0.001) while at mid stance phase trunk flexion angle showed significant difference between men and women (P&le0.05).

Conclusion: Women significantly have increased knee valgus, knee extension and trunk extension during cutting maneuver. These factors clearly explain high potential of ACL injury risk.