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3rd Edition of

World Orthopedics Conference

September 15-17, 2025 | London, UK

Ortho 2023

Running surfaces affect Achilles tendon structural integrity among long distance runners

Speaker at World Orthopedics Conference 2023 - Gali Dar
University of Haifa, Israel
Title : Running surfaces affect Achilles tendon structural integrity among long distance runners

Abstract:

Objective: To investigate Achilles tendon structure and functional tests in road and trail runners.

Methods: The study included 26 road and17 trail runners. All running at least 3 times per week with a minimum of 20km per week and had participated in running competitions over 2 years. Each participant was examined for Achilles tendon structure (via ultrasound tissue characterization (UTC) imaging) and functional tests in addition to demographical questionnaire. Main Outcome Measure included: The percentages of Echo types I, II, III and IV within the tendon, tendon length and width, tendon cross sectional area (via UTC imaging); ankle inversion movement discrimination ability (via AMEDA device); dynamic postural balance (via Y balance test); jumping performance (by triple hop distance test) and hip muscle abduction muscle strength (by hand held dynamometry).

Results: Significant difference in the distributions of the four echo-types in the UTC examination was found between groups. Percentage of echo-types I was significantly lower while echo-types II was higher in the road group compared with trail group (67.3%, 28.9% and 74.15%,22.1%, respectively) (p<0.001). No significant differences between genders and groups was found for other tests.

Conclusions: Tendon integrity as examined with UTC is different between road and trail runners. This suggest an influence of running surface on Achilles tendon structure.

Biography:

Dr. Dar is a physical therapist (B.PT) and has completed her M.Sc and PhD from the Department of Anatomy, Tel-Aviv University, Israel. She is a full member in the Department of Physical Therapy at Haifa University, Israel being the head of the department since 2019. She is also working as a physiotherapist in "Wingate Institute" which is the national institute for physical education and sport in Israel. Her research focuses on the musculoskeletal system in order to better understand function, injuries and treatment

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