OBJECTIVE To investigate the changes of ankle strength and range of motion with aging and which of the ankle strength and range of motion are contributed to balance. METHODS Sixty healthy people (24 men and 36 women) have undergone tests for ankle strength and range of motion, using Biodex System 4 Pro; a one-leg balance, including postural sway and stability index using a Balance System; in ...

BACKGROUND During shoulder surgery, blood pressure is frequently measured at the ankle. Anesthetic complications may result when ankle blood pressure is higher than brachial blood pressure and anesthesiologists misinterpret ankle blood pressure as brachial blood pressure. Therefore, we investigated whether ankle blood pressure is significantly higher than brachial blood pressure before anesthes...

In bats, the wing membrane is anchored not only to the body and forelimb, but also to the hindlimb. This attachment configuration gives bats the potential to modulate wing shape by moving the hindlimb, such as by joint movement at the hip or knee. Such movements could modulate lift, drag, or the pitching moment. In this study we address: 1) how the ankle translates through space during the wing...

End-stage osteoarthritis of the ankle is a disabling problem, particularly in elderly patients who experience an overall loss of mobility and functional impairment and who then need compensatory adaption. Ankle arthrodesis, which has been demonstrated to provide postoperative pain relief and hindfoot stability, leaves the patient with a stiff foot and gait changes. For elderly patient, these ch...

[Purpose] The present study assessed the effects of using an unstable inclined board on the active and passive ankle range of motion in patients with ankle stiffness. [Subjects] The study included 10 young female patients with ankle stiffness. [Methods] The patients were divided into the following two groups: a group that performed ankle dorsiflexion stretching exercises using a wooden inclined...

BACKGROUND Ankle joint distraction (AJD) avoids the potential complications associated with ankle fusion or total ankle replacement (TAR) in patients with advanced ankle osteoarthritis (OA). AJD could a tenable option to ankle fusion or TAR. METHODS A review has been performed on the role of AJD in advanced OA of the ankle. The exploration machine was MedLine. The keywords utilized were: join...

OBJECTIVE To investigate a possible ankle-knee synergy, experiments with normal subjects were performed to compare changes of the quadriceps motor pool excitability due to ankle position and effort. METHODS Vastus medialis H reflex amplitude was examined during ankle isometric contractions conditioned by different ankle positions (dorsiflexion, neutral, and plantarfiexion) with or without vol...

When humans hop or run on different surfaces, they adjust their effective leg stiffness to offset changes in surface stiffness. As a result, the overall stiffness of the leg-surface series combination remains independent of surface stiffness. The purpose of this study was to determine whether humans make a similar adjustment when springs are placed in parallel with the leg via a lower limb orth...

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to investigate the immediate effect on gait function when ankle balance taping is applied to amateur soccer players with lateral ankle sprain. MATERIAL AND METHODS A cross-over randomized design was used. Twenty-two soccer players with an ankle sprain underwent 3 interventions in a random order. Subjects were randomly assigned to ankle balance taping, ...

BACKGROUND Total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) implantation is increasing, as the potential for pain relief and restoration of function and risks are compared with those for ankle fusion. A previous analysis with a simple decision tree suggested TAA was cost-effective compared with ankle fusion. However, reevaluation is warranted with the availability of newer, more costly implants and longer-term p...