Initial explorations using the knee moment vector versus the knee abduction moment to identify athletes at risk of ACL injury

The knee abduction moment (KM-Y) is a biomechanical risk factor for ACL injury, yet multi-planar loads are known to strain the ACL. The KM-Y alone is often used for injury screening and prediction. This study examined if the KM-Y alone would identify athletes with high knee moments. Forty five female participants performed a bilateral drop jump and single leg drop jump with each leg and their 3D motion characteristics and ground reaction forces were measured. The identification of “at risk” individuals was compared between KM-Y, the non-sagittal resultant moment and the resultant knee moment using a risk threshold of the mean+1.6SD. The KM-Y identified 60 and 70% athletes in each task whereas also using the non-sagittal resultant moment identified 90 and 100%. This suggests that transverse plane moments should not be ignored to identify at risk athletes.