With an elevated risk of a second anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury following ACL reconstruction (ACLR), determining when an athlete can safely return to sport (RTS) is a challenging task for rehabilitation professionals. Lack of dynamic postural control has been associated with ACL injury and reinjury and should therefore be included in the assessment for readiness to RTS. The primary purpose of this investigation was to examine dynamic stability using the Dynamic Postural Stability Index (DPSI) in athletes following ACLR at the time of release for RTS compared to healthy, matched controls. A secondary purpose was to examine how dynamic postural stability is affected in athletes following ACLR when performing a jump-landing task in three different directions. We hypothesized that 1) athletes with ACLR would demonstrate decreased dynamic postural stability at time of release for RTS compared to matched controls, and 2) dynamic stability for athletes with ACLR would significantly differ among the three jump-landing tasks.
