Kiss goodbye to the ‘kissing knees’: No association between frontal plane inward knee motion and risk of future non-contact ACL injury in elite female athletes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate if frontal plane knee and hip control in single-leg squats or vertical drop jumps with an overhead target were associated with future non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in elite female athletes. Of the 429 handball and 451 football athletes (age 21.5 ± 4.0 years, height 169.6 ± 6.4 cm, body weight 67.1 ± 8.0 kg), 722 non-injured and 56 non-contact ACL injured participants were eligible for analysis. We calculated lateral pelvic tilt, frontal plane knee projection angle, medial knee position, and side-to-side asymmetry in these from 2D videos recorded at baseline, and recorded any new ACL injuries prospectively. None of the aforementioned variables in either screening task were different or could discriminate between injured and non-injured athletes (all p values >.05 and Cohen’s d values < .27). Two-dimensional video assessment of frontal plane knee and hip control during both a single-leg squat and vertical drop jump was unable to identify individuals at increased risk of non-contact ACL injury, thus should not be used for screening.