Performance Enhancement Anterior (rucidte Ligdrnent Injury in (ollegidte Rerndle Ddncers

ABOUT 80,000 to 250,000 anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries of the knee occur annually, with many of these injuries affecting individuals between the ages of 15-25 years. I The majority of ACL injuries are noncontact in nature,23 with landing and plantand-cut maneuvers being the most common activities associated with it 4 Females participating in sports that involve jump landing and plant-and-cut type activities have a risk level that is 3-8 times greater than that for males during similar activities. 3 .4 Anatomical, hormonal, neuromuscular, and biomechanical differences have been suggested to be the major factors that explain this injury bias. 1.5.6 Female dancers regularly perform multiple landing, jumping, and plant-and-cut type activities' but do not appear to injure the ACL as frequently as do female athletes in jump and land-intensive sports. 18.Q Although ACL injury rates for professional dancers have been reported,IOII we found no published studies reporting ACL