Relationship Between Proprioceptive Flexibility and the Occurrence of Lower Limb Ligament Injury in Pivot-contact Sports (FlexiPro)

University Hospital Center (CHU)

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Lower Limb Ligament Injury

Treatments: Other: proprioceptive profile measurement

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07028723

RECHMPL25_0121

2025-A00797-42 (Other Identifier)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Among young athletes involved in pivot and pivot-contact sports (soccer, handball, rugby, etc.), lateral ankle sprains and lesions of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) are the most frequent ligament injuries. Despite existing prevention programs, these injuries lead to prolonged downtime, risk of recurrence and long-term sequelae.

A little-studied risk factor is proprioceptive rigidity, defined as the central nervous system's difficulty in adapting the use of sensory information (proprioception) according to environment and motor context. This deficit could limit the ability to maintain balance in high-risk situations, thereby increasing the likelihood of injury.

To our knowledge, there is no evidence of a direct link between proprioceptive profile (flexible/rigid) and the incidence of lower-limb ligament injury. If such a link is established, preventive strategies focusing on the recovery of an optimal proprioceptive profile could be developed in an attempt to limit the occurrence of ligament injuries in young elite and sub-elite athletes, and thus limit the medical, financial and personal repercussions for these athletes.

Enrollment: 150 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 14 to 25 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Athlete practicing in a high-level program
• Aged between 14 and 25
• Practicing a pivot-contact sport (rugby, soccer, handball)

Exclusion criteria

• Lower limb injury <6 weeks prior to inclusion
• Concussion <6 weeks prior to inclusion
• Known neurological or vestibular disorder
• Lack of consent from athlete or legal guardians
• Non-affiliation with a social security scheme
• Persons under court protection
• Participant in another study with an ongoing exclusion period

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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150 participants in 1 patient group

proprioceptive profile measurement

Experimental group

Treatment:

Other: proprioceptive profile measurement