The efficacy of a prophylactic knee brace to reduce knee injuries in football

Abstract

The purpose of this prospective, randomized study was to determine the efficacy of a prophylactic knee brace to reduce the frequency and severity of acute knee injuries in football in an athletic environment in which the athletic shoe, playing surface, athlete-exposure, knee injury history, and brace assignment were either statistically or experimentally controlled. The participants in the study were 1396 cadets at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, who experienced a total of 21,570 athlete-exposures in the 1986 and 1987 fall intramural tackle football seasons. The use of prophylactic knee braces significantly reduced the frequency of knee injuries, both in the total number of subjects injured and in the total number of medial collateral ligament injuries incurred. However, the reduction in the frequency of knee injuries (total and medial collateral ligament) was dependent on player position. Defensive players who wore prophylactic knee braces had statistically fewer knee injuries than players who served as controls. This was not true of offensive players who served as controls; they had statistically no difference in the number of knee injuries from players who wore prophylactic knee braces. The severity of medical collateral ligament and anterior cruciate ligament knee injuries was not significantly reduced with the use of prophylactic knee braces.

Do Knee Braces Prevent Ski Knee Injuries?

“…One level I randomized controlled trial on 1396 military cadets participating in intramural tackle football (26) showed significant differences between braced and unbraced groups. This supports the use of PKB in American football players, reducing medial collateral ligament injuries and overall knee injuries (P < 0.05).…”

A Systematic Review of Prophylactic Braces in the Prevention of Knee Ligament Injuries in Collegiate Football Players

“…[18][19][20][21][22][23][24] A meta-analysis was not prudent for summarizing these data because outcomes, braces used, and injury inclusion criteria were different for all the studies.…”

Technical Report: Knee Brace Use in the Young Athlete

“…Prophylactic knee braces [15][16][17] are braces with unilateral or bilateral bars, hinges, and adhesive straps. The deformable metal of these braces can absorb some of the impact and decrease the force applied to the medial collateral ligament by 10% to 30%.…”

“…Despite anecdotal reports of success, scientific studies have not universally shown that prophylactic knee braces significantly reduce knee injuries. [15][16][17][18] Thus, there is insufficient evidence to recommend prophylactic knee bracing in the young athlete. [1][2][3]7,[15][16][17][18] …”