Use of an Antigravity Treadmill for Rehabilitation of a Pelvic Stress Injury

Abstract

Pelvic stress injuries are a relatively uncommon form of injury that require high index of clinician suspicion and usually MRI for definitive diagnosis. We present a case report of a 21-year-old female elite runner who was diagnosed with pelvic stress injury and used an antigravity treadmill during rehabilitation. She was able to return to pain-free ground running at 8 weeks after running at 95% body weight on the antigravity treadmill. Ten weeks from time of diagnosis, she competed at her conference championships and advanced to the NCAA Championships in the 10,000-meters. She competed in both races without residual pain. To our knowledge, this is the first published case report on use of an antigravity treadmill in rehabilitation of bone-related injuries. Our findings suggest that use of an antigravity treadmill for rehabilitation of a pelvic stress injury may result in appropriate bone loading and healing during progression to ground running and faster return to competition. Future research may identify appropriate protocols for recovery from overuse lower extremity injuries and other uses for this technology, including neuromuscular recovery and injury prevention.

View details for DOI 10.1016/j.pmrj.2012.02.003

View details for Web of Science ID 000308279400012

View details for PubMedID 22920318