Athlete Development & Sports Rehabilitation
Clinical Practice (assessment, diagnosis, treatment, knowledge translation/EBP, implementation science, program development)
Neuroplasticity (includes neuroscience)
Oral Presentation
Jennifer Mullins, PT DPT OCS
MAJ, US Army / PhD Student
US Army / University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
A single dry needling (DN) intervention was used to compare changes in dynamic balance in individuals with chronic ankle instability (CAI) to healthy controls. The intervention was shown to result in a significant group-by-time interaction in the composite (p=0.006) and posteromedial (p=0.017) Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) scores. Post-hoc testing demonstrated improvements in the composite scores of both groups, but only the CAI group improved in the posteromedial direction. Significant time effects existed for all SEBT measures and significant group effects existed in the composite score and anterior direction for the CAI group only. This study demonstrates an immedate effect of dry needling treatment on postural control. This suggests that DN may target sensorimotor components that are deficient in individuals with CAI.
Objective : Compare the effect of dry needling (DN) the fibularis longus (FL) on dynamic balance in individuals with chronic ankle instability (CAI) and healthy adults.
Design : Case-control study.
Setting : University laboratory
Participants (or Animals, Specimens, Cadavers) : Twenty-five adults with CAI (9m, 16f; 26±9.42 years; 173.12±9.85cm; 79.27±18kg) and 25 healthy adults (10m, 15f; 25.8±5.45 years; 169.47±9.43cm; 68.47±13kg) volunteered.
Interventions : A single DN treatment was performed on the FL using standard technique.
Main Outcome Measure(s) : Participants completed the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) before and after FL DN. The anterior, posterolateral, and posteromedial directions of the SEBT were tested in a random order and normalized to leg length. A composite SEBT score was calculated by summing the normalized, average scores from each direction and dividing by three. A group-by-time analysis examined changes in SEBT performance between. Change scores (mean±SD) and effect sizes (ES) were calculated to reflect pre/post DN changes within groups, and two-sample t-tests were used to assess significance.
Results:
Significant group-by-time interactions were identified for composite (p=0.006) and posteromedial (p=0.017) SEBT scores. Post-hoc comparisons demonstrated both groups exhibited improvements in the composite score after DN (healthy 1.58±2.54%, p=0.005, ES=0.624; CAI 4.27±3.88%, p‹0.001, ES=1.10); however, only the CAI group improved in the posteromedial direction (healthy 0.99±5.12%, p=0.353, ES=0.19; CAI 4.85±5.75%, p‹0.000, ES=0.84). Significant time effects for all measures indicated the SEBT improved following treatment (p‹0.001). Significant group effects in the composite (p‹0.001) and anterior measures (p=0.018) indicated the CAI group had poorer balance than controls.
Conclusions : Individuals with CAI demonstrated greater improvements in dynamic balance immediately following FL DN than controls. Improvement in the CAI group suggests that DN may target sensorimotor components that are deficient in individuals with CAI.
