The effects of knee joint position sense following local and general load protocols

국소적 부하와 전신적 부하가 슬관절 위치 감각에 미치는 영향

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of knee joint position sense following local and general load protocols in 25 healthy male subjects. Proprioception of the knee joint was evaluated by measuring absolute angular errors at matching angles before, after and between 2 different types of load protocols. Proprioception tests(on the dominant knee) were performed in which proprioception of the passivepassive reproduced and active-active reproduced knee position was measured. Local load was provided with maximum isokinetic knee extension-flexion on the isokinetic dynamometer(Cybex), and general load was 10 minutes running on a treadmill. Peak torque(knee extension and flexion) and heart rate(beats per minute) was evaluated as an indicator of local and general fatigue during load protocols. The results were as follows: 1. For pasive-pasive reproduced knee position test, significant difference in absolute angular errors after general load protocol was detected compared with that before general load protocol(P<.05), significant difference in absolute angular errors after local load protocol was detected compared with that before local load protocol(P<.05). However, no significant difference in absolute angular errors of general load protocol was detected compared with that of local load protocol (P>.05), no significant difference in absolute angular errors of local load protocol was detected compared with that of general load protocol(P>.05). 2. For active-active reproduced knee position test, significant difference in absolute angular errors after general load protocol was detected compared with that before general load protocol(P<.05), significant difference in absolute angular errors after local load protocol was detected compared with that before local load protocol (P<.05). Also, significant difference in absolute angular errors of general load protocol was detected compared with that of local load protocol(P<.05), significant difference in absolute angular errors of local load protocol was detected compared with that of general load protocol(P<.05). 3. A significant decrease of peak torque of knee extensors and flexors was seen after local load, although heart rate was significantly increased(P<.05). No significant change of peak torque of knee extensors and flexors was seen after general load(P>.05), although heart rate was also significantly increased(P<.05). The previous study revealed that knee proprioception is significantly altered when the muscle mechanoreceptors are dysfunctional due to muscle fatigue, although the joint mechanoreceptors have no significantly effect on knee proprioception when the presence of knee muscle fatigue. However, the results of this study are different from those of the previous study in that muscle weakness of the knee could not be seen after general load. This study shows that general load may diminish motor control by the central nervous system. Proprioceptional decline without muscle weakness of knee after general load suggests a change in the proprioceptional pathway without influence from muscle mechanoreceptors.