Forensic analysis of Lateral ankle ligamentous sprain injury in Badminton
Creators: name: Wang, Yuehang
Publisher: name: Loughborough University
Year: 2024

description: Engaging in sports activities can provide positive health outcomes, although it is important to acknowledge the potential occurrence of sports-related injuries. Nevertheless, a considerable amount of research has been conducted on sport-related injuries, with a particular focus on team sports such as football, basketball, and rugby, among others. These team sports are the ones that garner greater attention and interest from individuals. Certain individual sports, such as badminton, tennis, and table tennis, employ a scoring system rather than a time-based criterion to determine the completion of a game. Many people lack awareness regarding the extended durations and physical exertion associated with participating in these sports. Badminton, being classified as a racquet sport, has received comparatively less attention in academic research. Hence, we decided to explore whether aetiology and mechanism of ankle sprain occur more over time during badminton matches.Ankle sprains can be classified into two distinct aetiologies. The first one involves an inverted ankle joint orientation upon landing, commonly referred to as incorrect landing. The second one pertains to a delayed reaction time of the peroneal muscles, which is specific to ankle sprains. This study aims to examine the presence of patterns in ankle sprains within the context of badminton. Additionally, it seeks to determine whether engaging in a prolonged badminton match leads to delayed peroneal muscle reaction time or an inverted ankle joint position upon landing.A comprehensive review has been published that encompasses valuable cases of ankle sprain and giving way. The review integrates and analyses the data in a thorough manner. This review posits that inversion is the predominant movement of the ankle joint with regards to the mechanism of injury and is consistently observed in all cases. It is worth noting that injury prevention efforts should prioritise the mitigation of excessive inversion over internal rotation and plantarflexion. The prevention of injuries is contingent upon the identification of patterns associated with their occurrence. We hypothesise that in badminton, inversion is the most important movement of the ankle joint in relation to the injury mechanism. In the preceding 23 cases, it has been observed that the primary mechanism behind ankle sprains is characterised by inversion followed by internal rotation. This leads to the subsequent chapter to analyse 30 separate cases on badminton to see if there are any patterns in ankle sprains in badminton.On this 30 badminton Cases we used Model-Based-Image-Matching method. This method has been used for ACL and Ankle Injuries which uses two or more simultaneous views to build a virtual environment and attach a skeleton model onto the bodies of athletes to describe the 3D Kinematics of an injury. Most of the MBIM results are consistent with those of previous studies, which also provides more powerful evidence for the effectiveness and accuracy of MBIM.Then we carried out a lab trail on stimulated prolonged badminton match to look at two aetiologies: delayed peroneal muscle reaction time; inverted ankle joint orientation at landing. The study involved the collection of data pertaining to ankle joint angle and peroneal muscle reaction time using Vicon motion capture system and electromyography (EMG) technology. The purpose was to examine the variations in peroneal muscle reaction time and landing angle throughout different stages of a badminton match. The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between ankle landing angle and peroneal muscle reaction time. Additionally, we aimed to examine whether there exists a specific threshold or range of motion in the ankle joint landing orientation during the latter stages of a badminton match that increases the likelihood of ankle sprains. The findings of this research will contribute to providing recommendations for the prevention of ankle injuries in badminton matches.We have found that: 1.) In the analysis of 30 real cases of badminton ankle sprains using MBIM technology, a significant inversion pattern was present in all cases. This suggests that inversion is a common and crucial pattern in badminton-related ankle sprains. The frequency of injuries and the most commonly affected areas (i.e., areas associated with movements leading to inversion) indicate that such injuries likely occur during specific stages of the game or movements, such as rapid direction changes or landings. The inversion pattern is particularly prevalent among badminton players, possibly due to the sport's high demand for sudden and multi-directional foot movements. 2.) In the simulated badminton match experiment, after the initial 10 minutes, the reaction time of the peroneal muscles began to extend, indicating the onset of fatigue. The significant difference between the first group and subsequent groups suggests that prolonged matches likely affect the peroneal muscle reaction time, with a notable delay as the match progresses. This delay is crucial as it implies that muscles become slower in responding to stimuli, potentially increasing the risk of ankle sprains due to insufficient stabilization and protective responses. This insight is vital for designing effective training programs and interventions aimed at improving muscle endurance and reaction time, thereby mitigating the risk of injuries in prolonged matches. 3.) In the simulated badminton match experiment, although Vicon analysis showed that changes in the ankle joint landing angle over time were not statistically significant, this does not rule out the possibility of subtle but clinically relevant changes. The absence of significant findings might suggest that while athletes maintain a relatively consistent ankle joint landing angle throughout the match, they might make individual adjustments or small changes in response to fatigue. These potential changes, although not captured as statistically significant in this study, might still contribute to injury risk over time. Further research, with a larger sample size, more sensitive measurement tools, or a longer observation period, is needed to capture these nuances. Understanding how fatigue affects the ankle joint angle during landing is crucial for informing training and recovery strategies, maintaining proper technique, and reducing injury risk, especially in prolonged matches.