Beschreibung:
<jats:p> The sidestep cutting manoeuvre is a common mecha nism of noncontact or isolated ACL ruptures in athletes. We analyzed the amount and direction of tibial rotation that occurred at the knee joint with a triaxial electro goniometer on 11 male subjects who performed the sidestep cutting manoeuvre. The mean total tibial ro tation was 19.84 ± 5.63° and the mean maximum point of internal tibial rotation occurred at 34.77 ± 5.30% of the stance phase. However, greater values for internal tibial rotation occurred in the swing phase in association with a greater angle of knee flexion. Therefore, in our subjects, during the sidestep cutting manoeuvre, inter nal tibial rotation did occur at the knee but was not maximal. </jats:p><jats:p> Under normal circumstances when performing the sidestep cutting manoeuvre, maximum internal tibial rotation does not occur and so the ACL is not placed under excessive strain in such a manoeuvre. If the ACL ruptures during a sidestep cutting manoeuvre then a possible cause may be the athlete's loss of the ability to control internal tibial rotation of the knee. </jats:p>