Physical Therapy in Sport
Volume 7, Issue 3 , Pages 137-143, August 2006

Measurement of glenohumeral joint laxity using the KT-2000 knee ligament arthrometer: Reliability analysis

  • Brian Hatzel

      Affiliations

    • Department of Movement Science, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI 49417, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Grand Valley State University, 1 Campus Drive, 184-B FH, Allendale, MI 49401, USA. Tel. +16163318538; fax: +16163313232.
    • ,
  • MaryBeth Horodyski

      Affiliations

    • Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
    • ,
  • Thomas W. Kaminski

      Affiliations

    • Department of Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
    • ,
  • Keith Meister

      Affiliations

    • TMI Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center, Arlington, TX 76014, USA
    • ,
  • Michael Powers

      Affiliations

    • Division of Athletic Training, Shenandoah University, Winchester, VA 22601, USA
    • ,
  • Denis Brunt

      Affiliations

    • Department of Physical Therapy, School of Allied Health Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA

Received 31 October 2005; received in revised form 6 April 2006; accepted 30 April 2006.

Abstract 

Objective

To establish reliability of the KT-2000 knee ligament arthrometer (MEDmetric Corporation, San Diego, CA, USA) in measuring glenohumeral (GH) joint laxity.

Design and Setting

Subjects reported on two occasions to the Athletic Training/Sports Medicine Research Laboratory for measurement of GH translation. A two-way mixed effect model was employed to establish reliability of the KT-2000.

Participants

Forty-six subjects (19 male, 27 female, age=22.4±3.5yr) with no previous history of dominant shoulder pathology.

Main outcome measures

Participants were instructed to relax while an anteriorly directed pulling force of increasing magnitude (67, 89, and 134N) was applied to the GH joint using the KT-2000 knee ligament arthrometer. Translation measurements were recorded for three trials at each of three load levels. This procedure was followed for each subject on 2 separate days.

Results

Sagittal plane translation measurements varied from 7 to 18mm at 67N, 11 to 25mm at 89N, and 14 to 36mm at 134N. The intraclass correlation coefficients involving the translation measurements were 0.89, 0.88, and 0.91, respectively.

Conclusions

These results indicate the KT-2000 used as described is a reliable method for measuring GH joint laxity. Although our findings are promising, we stress the importance of additional validation of this technique for measuring GH joint laxity.

Keywords: Shoulder joint, Instrumented arthrometry, Translation, Sagittal plane

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PII: S1466-853X(06)00056-3

doi:10.1016/j.ptsp.2006.04.003

Physical Therapy in Sport
Volume 7, Issue 3 , Pages 137-143, August 2006

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