BACKGROUND The flexion-relaxation phenomenon (FRP) is defined by reduced lumbar erector spinae (ES) muscle myoelectric activity during full trunk flexion. The objectives of this study were to quantify the effect of hip and back extensor muscle fatigue on FRP parameters and lumbopelvic kinematics. METHODS Twenty-seven healthy adults performed flexion-extension tasks under 4 different experimen...

BACKGROUND Reproducibility measurements of the range of motion are an important prerequisite for the interpretation of study results. The aim of the study is to assess the intra-rater and inter-rater reproducibility of the measurement of active Range of Motion (ROM) in patients with neck pain using the Cybex Electronic Digital Inclinometer-320 (EDI-320). METHODS In an outpatient clinic in a p...

UNLABELLED An experiment was designed to determine if Kinesio™ taping the anterior and lateral portion of the ankle would enhance ankle proprioception compared to the untaped ankle. 30 subjects, 15 men, 15 women, ages 18-30 participated in this study. EXCLUSION CRITERIA Ankle injury < 6 months prior to testing, significant ligament laxity as determined through clinical evaluation by an ATC, o...

Human and animal models using electromyography (EMG) based methods have hypothesized that viscoelastic tissue properties becomes compromised by prolonged repetitive cyclic trunk flexion-extension which in turn influences muscular activation including the flexion-relaxation phenomenon. Empirical evidence to support this hypothesis, especially the development of viscoelastic tension-relaxation an...

OBJECTIVE To assess the separate effects of thumb and finger extension/flexion on median nerve position and cross-sectional area. METHODS Ultrasonography was used to assess median nerve transverse position and cross-sectional area within the carpal tunnel at rest and its movement during volitional flexion of the individual digits of the hand. Both wrists of 165 normal subjects (11 men, 4 wome...

UNLABELLED Empirical evidence shows that a strong correlation exists between the flexion angles of the distal and proximal interphalangeal (D.I.P., P.I.P.) joints of the human finger. Several authors measured this functional dependence, stating that the interdependence of D.I.P. and P.I.P. flexion is different for healthy individuals and patients displaying pathologies. The purpose of our study...

OBJECTIVE Gain in elbow flexion in patients with brachial plexus injury is extremely important. The transfer of a fascicle from the ulnar nerve to the motor branch of the musculocutaneous nerve (Oberlin surgery) is a treatment option. However, in some patients, gain in elbow flexion is associated with wrist and finger flexion. This study aimed to assess the frequency of this association and the...

Stiff-knee gait is a common walking problem in cerebral palsy characterized by insufficient knee flexion during swing. To identify factors that may limit knee flexion in swing, it is necessary to understand how unimpaired subjects successfully coordinate muscles and passive dynamics (gravity and velocity-related forces) to accelerate the knee into flexion during double support, a critical phase...

The physiological basis of flexion spasms in individuals after spinal cord injury (SCI) may involve alterations in the properties of spinal neurons in the flexion reflex pathways. We hypothesize that these changes would be manifested as progressive increases in reflex response with repetitive stimulus application (i.e., "windup") of the flexion reflexes. We investigated the windup of flexion re...

INTRODUCTION: Proper bone cut and soft tissue balancing are the most critical procedures in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). A gap balancing technique is commonly used in TKA to create an equal extension and flexion gap. However, obtaining a flexion gap sufficiently large for the extension gap in cruciate retaining (CR) TKA is sometimes difficult and the flexion gap in CR TKA tends to be smaller ...