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

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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 ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ may identify appropriate protocols for recovery from overuse lower extremity injuries and other uses for this technology, including neuromuscular recovery and injury prevention.

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