The Effect of 4-Week Proprioceptive Exercise Program in Patients with Ankle Sprain and Chronic Ankle Instability

발목 염좌 및 만성 발목 불안정성 환자들에 대한 4주간의 고유수용감각 운동 프로그램의 효과

Background : Ankle inversion sprains are one of the most common injuries in sports and activities of daily living that mostly concern physically active individuals. In most researches, proprioceptive deficit, muscle weakness and/or absent coordination have been regarded as a contributing factors. Despite the high incidence of ankle sprain and instability, therapeutic approaches to properly manage the symptoms have rarely been investigated. This study aimed to identify the effect of proprioceptive exercise program that is easy to integrate in normal training program. Methods : Subjects were randomly allocated to control group and experimental group consisting of 11 and 10 patients, respectively. The conservative treatment for the control group consisted of hot packs, ultrasound and TENS. In addition, the experimental group performed 7 exercises to enhance proprioceptive function of ankle joint. The therapeutic intervention of the controland experimental groups was performed a total of 20 exercise sessions, averaging 50 hour each, 5 times per week for 4 weeks. To compare the two groups, the level of ankle disability was assessed by using the ankle injury score scale in pre- and post-treatment. Results : On assessment of post-treatment, there were statistically significant differences in the scores of all sub-items, except for ankle laxity and range of motion, and the total score of ankle injury score scale between the two groups(p<0.05). In comparison between pre- and post-treatments, the significant difference in the scores of all sub-items and total score didn't appear for the control group, while the scores of most sub-items and total score of the experimental group were shown the statistically significant difference(p<0.05). Conclusion : The findings suggest that the proprioceptive exercise program is more effective for relieving ankle disability than conservative treatment therefore, the program to improve proprioceptive function should be recommended for prevention and rehabilitation of recurrent ankle inversion injuries.