Table 1 Ankle passive torque, sciatic nerve, gastrocnemius medialis (GM) and biceps femoris long head (BF) shear wave velocity, and sciatic nerve thickness at the maximal ankle dorsiflexion ROM, before and after the Stretch and Control interventions.

From: The potential role of sciatic nerve stiffness in the limitation of maximal ankle range of motion

 

Ankle angle*

Torque (N.m)

Sciatic nerve SWV (m/s)#

GM SWV (m/s)

BF SWV (m/s)

Sciatic nerve thickness (cm)

Before

After

Before

After

P-value

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Stretch session

32.9 ± 7.3°

35.3 ± 12.7

33.4 ± 13.7

7.3 ± 0.3

6.3 ± 0.3

0.00001

18.1 ± 3.5

18.1 ± 3.6

5.1 ± 1.0

5.1 ± 0.8

0.5 ± 0.1

0.5 ± 0.1

Control session

34.0 ± 6.3°

34.8 ± 13.3

35.5 ± 13.5

7.3 ± 0.3

7.4 ± 0.4

0.486

19.1 ± 2.2

19.0 ± 2.2

5.4 ± 1.2

5.4 ± 1.1

0.5 ± 0.1

0.5 ± 0.1

  1. Values are presented as mean + SD. *Ankle angles corresponded to 100% of pre-testing maximal ankle ROM in dorsiflexion. Session × time interaction was found only for the sciatic nerve SWV (#p < 0.0001). Post hoc p-values for the before to after intervention changes in sciatic nerve shear-wave velocity (SWV) are presented for both Stretch and Control sessions. No significant session × time interactions were observed for ankle torque, GM and BF shear wave velocity, and sciatic nerve thickness. GM: gastrocnemius medialis; BF: biceps femoris; SWV: shear wave velocity; ROM: range of motion.
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