Article

It is unknown whether prophylactic knee braces can reduce the
strain in the anterior cruciate ligament during dynamic activities. TECHNIQUE: An
athlete, who had characteristics of high anterior cruciate ligament injury risk,
was chosen. A motion capture system (Optotrak Certus; Northern Digital, Waterloo,
ON, Canada) was used to record dynamic trials during drop-landing activity of
this subject with and without the knee brace being worn.
A musculoskeletal model
was used to estimate the muscle forces during this activity.
A dynamic knee
simulator then applied kinematics and muscle forces on a cadaver knee with and
without the brace mounted on it. The anterior cruciate ligament strain was
measured. DISCUSSION: The peak strain in the anterior cruciate ligament was
substantially lower for the braced (7%) versus unbraced (20%) conditions.
Functional knee braces could decrease the strain in the anterior cruciate
ligament during dynamic activities in a high-risk subject. However, the reduction
seems to be a result of altered muscle firing pattern due to the brace. CLINICAL
RELEVANCE: Prophylactic knee brace could reduce the strain in the anterior
cruciate ligament of high-risk subjects during drop-landing through altered
muscle firing pattern associated with brace wear. This could help reduce the
anterior cruciate ligament injury risk.
CI - (c) The International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics 2015.

Langue : ANGLAIS