Visual Utilization During Postural Control in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Deficient & Reconstructed Patients: Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses

Abstract Objective To determine if anterior cruciate ligament deficient (ACL-D) individuals and individuals with a reconstructed anterior cruciate ligament (ACL-R) rely more heavily on visual information to maintain postural control. Data Sources PubMed, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus databases were searched from their earliest available date to May 24, 2016 using the combination of key words. Study Selection Articles were included if they reported any instrumented static single leg balance outcome in both a patient and control sample. The means and standard deviations of these outcomes must have been reported with both eyes open and eyes closed. Data Extraction Sample sizes, means, and standard deviations of single leg balance measures for each group’s eyes open and eyes closed testing conditions were extracted. The methodological quality of included studies was independently evaluated by multiple authors using an adapted version of the quality index. Data Synthesis Effect sizes were calculated by dividing the differences in change between eyes closed and eyes open in the ACL-D and control group and the ACL-R and control group by the pooled standard deviation from eyes closed trials for each analysis. Significant differences between the ACL-D and control group (Effect Size=-1.66, 95%CI= -2.90 to -0.41) was noted. The ACL-R and control group were not different (Effect Size=-0.61, 95%CI= -2.17 to 0.95) Conclusions Individuals with an ACL-D but not individuals with ACL-R demonstrate a greater reliance on visual information during single leg stance compared to healthy individuals.