Agreement Between Clinician and Instrumented Laxity Assessment

Agreement Between Clinician and Instrumented Laxity Assessment

Ankle injuries are the most common acute injury to the active population. It is important to ensure best practices and techniques used in clinics for evaluation are validated and consistent. This study will compare diagnostic outcomes of a clinician and of a diagnostic arthrometer when testing acute ankle injuries.

Ankle injuries, specifically lateral ankle sprains, are the most common acute injury to the active population (Hootman, Dick, & Agel, 2007). It is important to insure the use of best practice and ensure that the techniques being utilized in clinics for evaluation are validated and consistent within the techniques. Manual testing and instrumented testing have not yet been tested within the same cohort.

The purpose of this study is to compare the diagnostic outcomes of a clinician and of a diagnostic arthrometer when testing acute ankle injuries. Participants will be recruited at University of Nebraska at Omahas (UNO) Injury Prevention and Care Clinic and Athletic Training Room in Sapp Fieldhouse. Participants with be members of the UNO Wellness Center or UNO athlete, aged 19-80 years old. During a standard evaluation the participant will have a clinician test manual ligamentous laxity and a blinded clinician testing laxity using an arthrometer. Participation will not alter the normal treatment or care for participants. The author hypothesizes that the diagnostic accuracy for all performed test will be good to excellent when assessed for laxity and moderate to good when assessed for pain.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Membership to University of Nebraska at Omahas Wellness Center: a student taking on campus classes or a paying community member. Acute injury occurred within one week of evaluation.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any condition that is contraindicated for manual test (i.e. fracture).