Individuals with chronic ankle instability show altered regional activation of the peroneus longus muscle during ankle eversion

Guillermo Mendez-Rebolledo*, Rodrigo Guzmán-Venegas, Carlos Cruz-Montecinos, Kohei Watanabe, Joaquín Calatayud, Eduardo Martinez-Valdes*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Individuals with chronic ankle instability (CAI) present muscular weakness and potential changes in the activation of the peroneus longus muscle, which likely explains the high recurrence of ankle sprains in this population. However, there is conflicting evidence regarding the role of the peroneus longus activity in CAI, possibly due to the limited spatial resolution of the surface electromyography (sEMG) methods (i.e., bipolar sEMG). Recent studies employing high-density sEMG (HD-sEMG) have shown that the peroneus longus presents differences in regional activation, however, it is unknown whether this regional activation is maintained under pathological conditions such as CAI. This study aimed to compare the myoelectric activity, using HD-sEMG, of each peroneus longus compartment (anterior and posterior) between individuals with and without CAI. Eighteen healthy individuals (No-CAI group) and 18 individuals with CAI were recruited. In both groups, the center of mass (COM) and the sEMG amplitude at each compartment were recorded during ankle eversion at different force levels. For the posterior compartment, the sEMG amplitude of CAI group was significantly lower than the No-CAI group (mean difference = 5.6% RMS; 95% CI = 3.4–7.6; p = 0.0001). In addition, it was observed a significant main effect for group (F1,32 = 9.608; p = 0.0040) with an anterior displacement of COM for the CAI group. These findings suggest that CAI alters the regional distribution of muscle activity of the peroneus longus during ankle eversion. In practice, altered regional activation may impact strengthening programs, prevention, and rehabilitation of CAI.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere14535
Pages (from-to)1-12
Number of pages12
JournalScandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports
Volume34
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science In Sports published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Keywords

  • ankle sprain
  • chronic ankle instability
  • electromyography
  • fibularis longus
  • high-density surface electromyography
  • neuromuscular control
  • regional activation
  • rehabilitation

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