625 BO26 – A nine-week ACL injury prevention program for female handball players: effect on knee joint loading and cutting technique during a handball-specific fake-cut

Background Anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) prevention programs lack game specificity, and the effect on knee loading and movement technique during sport-specific cutting tasks has rarely been investigated. Objective To determine the effect of a handball-specific ACL injury prevention program in reducing knee joint loading and optimizing cutting techniques. Design Pre-posttest control group design. Setting Biomechanical laboratory. Participant 40 young female elite handball players were assigned to an intervention (INT) group (n = 20) and a control (CON) group (n = 20). Interventions Players performed handball-specific fake-cuts while 3D biomechanics were recorded before (T0) and after nine weeks (T1). The INT performed neuromuscular training, including hip and calf muscle strength exercises and handball cutting technique training, focusing on forefoot landing and avoiding knee valgus. Mixed rANOVAs (group x time) were conducted. Main Outcome Measurements The external peak knee abduction moment (KAM). We furthermore assessed knee valgus angle at initial ground contact, foot strike angle, as well as cutting angle and approach speed. Results Both groups reduced KAM from T0 to T1 (Table, Figure). The knee valgus angle was similar between groups and unchanged over time. Both groups adapted a forefoot landing from T0 to T1. Both groups decreased the approach speed but increased their cutting angle from T0 to T1. There were no interaction effects, indicating similar changes over time in both groups. Conclusions The handball-specific prevention program failed to reduce KAM in the INT. A longer intervention period or different intervention content might be required to induce reductions in KAM and further improve the cutting technique.