Recovery of the medial gastrocnemius muscle after calcaneus fracture differs between contractile and elastic components

Autor: Andreas Brand, Inga Kröger, Isabella Klöpfer-Krämer, Hannes Wackerle, Janina Anna Müßig, Andrea Dietrich, Moritz Böttger, Leander Gaul, Johannes Gabel, Peter Augat
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Clinical Biomechanics. 96:105664
ISSN: 0268-0033
Popis: Calcaneal fractures result in severe functional impairments and walking restrictions. Postoperative evaluation mainly focusses on the restoration of calcaneal anatomy while ankle plantar flexor insufficiency remains largely neglected. This study aims to investigate biomechanical and morphologic adaptions of elastic and contractile components of the gastrocnemius medialis after unilateral calcaneal fracture.20 Patients (BMI: 27.6 ± 3.1 kgmWithin patients, a significant (p 0.05) increase in fascicle length (by 67%) during single support and a decrease of serial elastic element shortening (by 20%) during push off was found between three and twelve months follow-up comparisons. Patients showed differences for fascicle lengthening and pennation angle increase during single support after three and six months compared to healthy controls. A smaller shortening of the serial-elastic element (by 29%) and muscle-tendon unit (by 16%) persisted even for the twelve month comparisons.Patients with calcaneal fracture showed an incomplete restoration of the medial gastrocnemius dynamic morphological behavior. While muscle fascicle contraction almost recovered, the serial elastic component still showed restrictions regarding its shortening behavior. Limited foot mobility and plantarflexor strength as well as lowered responsiveness of elastic tissues to mechanical loading are regarded as key mechanisms.
Databáze: OpenAIRE