The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of ankle bracing on knee kinetics and kinematics during volleyball tasks. Fifteen healthy, elite, female volleyball players performed a series of straight-line and lateral volleyball tasks with no brace and when wearing an ankle brace. A 14-camera Vicon motion analysis system and AMTI force plate were used to capture the kinetic and kinematic...

Use of functional knee braces has been suggested to provide protection and to improve kinetic performance of the knee in Anterior cruciate ligament(ACL)-injured patients. However, many athletes might refrain from wearing the braces because of the fear of performance hindrance in the playing field. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of three functional knee brace/sleeves upon the is...

Use of protective equipment is an important sports injury prevention strategy, yet use of protective equipment by high school athletes has seldom been studied. The authors analyzed data from a 3-year (1996-1999), stratified, two-stage cluster sample of athletes from 12 organized sports in 100 North Carolina high schools (n = 19,728 athlete-seasons). Information on each athlete's use of protecti...

PURPOSE To examine the influence of two patellofemoral braces on pain response, patellar alignment, and patellofemoral joint contact area in persons with patellofemoral pain. METHODS Fifteen women between the ages of 18 and 45 yr with a diagnosis of patellofemoral pain participated. After the assessment of pain response using a visual analog scale, subjects underwent axial plane magnetic reso...

Osteoarthritis of the knee is a debilitating condition affecting increasing numbers of individuals each year. One option for treatment is orthotic knee braces, but a little independent reviews have taken place to date on their relative outcomes for users. This study therefore evaluates the efficacy of different types of knee orthoses (braces) with regard to key aspects of use, including gait pa...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of a functional knee brace specifically designed for patients with varus gonarthrosis on measures of proprioception and postural control. SUBJECTS Fourteen men and six women (aged 59+/-9 yr) with measurable varus alignment and osteoarthritis of the knee medial compartment. METHODS Proprioception was assessed in the sitting position using an isokinetic dynam...

The objective of the study was to determine if prophylactic ankle bracing worn by females during landings produces abnormal lower extremity mechanics. Angular kinematic and ground reaction force (GRF) data were obtained for 16 athletically experienced females who performed brace and no-brace drop landings. The brace condition displayed reduced in/external rotation an...

The objective of this study was to determine whether the use of a knee immobilizer brace reduces patient falls associated with the recent use of femoral nerve blocks for pain control after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The authors conducted a retrospective study to investigate fall rates before and after the introduction of an immobilizer brace. The demographics of patients and total cost of c...

We read with deep interest the article by Callaghan et al related to the efficacy of patellar brace in patients with patellofemoral (PF) osteoarthritis (OA) targeting knee pain and bone marrow lesions (BMLs). To our best knowledge, patellar brace in the management of PF disorders, including PF arthritis, was first introduced in 1981. Since then only a few studies have examined the effects of pa...