腓肠肌内外侧硬度与跟腱硬度的相关性研究

Objective: To investigate the intra and inter-operator reliability of MyotonPRO for quantifying Achilles tendon (AT) stiffness and explore the correlations between the stiffness of the medial head of gastrocnemius (MG), the stiffness of the lateral head of gastrocnemius (LG) and the stiffness of the Achilles tendon. Method: Forty healthy subjects (male, n=20, female, n=20) were recruited, and the stiffness of the AT (2 and 4 cm above the calcaneal tuberosity) were measured using a MyotonPRO device by rater A and B. Only rater A measured the stiffness of gastrocnemius. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs), minimum detectable change (MDC) and correlation coefficient were calculated in this study. Result: All reliability values for the measurement stiffness of the AT were higher than 0.85 (ICC=0.86-0.93). The correlations between the MG/LG and AT-4 stiffness were 0.60 and 0.49 in the ankle neutral position (P< 0.05). The correlation between the MG and AT-2 stiffness was 0.36 when in the ankle neutral position. And there was no correlation between the stiffness of LG and AT-4 stiffness (P> 0.05). Only the correlation between the LG and AT-4 stiffness was found when in the ankle dorsiflexied 10° and the value was 0.34(P< 0.05). Conclusion: MyotonPRO is a reliable device for accessing the stiffness of AT. The correlations between the stiffness of the MG, LG, and AT were different for the modulation of the ankle joint position and the region of AT.