Functional Brace of Anterior Cruciate Ligament: Systematic Review

Du Han Kim; Dhong Won Lee; Jin Goo Kim

doi:10.5763/kjsm.2018.36.2.63

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Kim, Lee, and Kim: Functional Brace of Anterior Cruciate Ligament: Systematic Review

Review Article

The Korean Journal of Sports Medicine 2018; 36(2): 63-70.

Published online: 8 June 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5763/kjsm.2018.36.2.63

Functional Brace of Anterior Cruciate Ligament: Systematic Review

Du Han Kim^1,², Dhong Won Lee¹, Jin Goo Kim¹

¹Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Konkuk University Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.

²Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Allgoden Hospital, Daegu, Korea.

Correspondence: Jin Goo Kim. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Konkuk University Medical Center, 120-1 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05030, Korea. Tel: +82-2-2030-7606, Fax: +82-2-2030-7369, boram107@hanmail.net

Received 5 February 2018 Revised 1 June 2018 Accepted 4 June 2018

The Korean Society of Sports Medicine

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Functional knee braces are commonly prescribed to support anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the current literature on the use of functional knee braces of ACL with respect to biomechanical, clinical and functional outcomes. A literature search was conducted (2000 to 2017) by two independent reviewers using PubMed MEDLINE database. Articles were retrieved by an electronic search using keywords (anterior cruciate ligament, brace, and bracing) and their combinations. Current functional braces used to treat ACL injury were identified. Studies that met inclusion criteria were assessed for pertinent data. Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Functional knee brace reportedly did not improve long-term clinical and functional outcomes following ACL reconstruction, but some studies suggest that functional brace may have some benefit with regard to biomechanics, proprioception, and subsequent injury rates. Functional knee brace after ACL reconstruction was found no significant difference in clinical and functional outcomes. But Further large-scale recent studies will be required to determine long-term outcomes of the brace.

Keywords: Anterior cruciate ligament, Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, Braces, Ligaments, Review

Figures and Tables

Fig. 1

Flow diagram of the systematic review process.

Fig. 2

Photograph of four points of leverage system functional brace.

Table 1

Summary of published biomechanical results of functional brace of anterior cruciate ligament

ACL: anterior cruciate ligament, BPTB: bone patella tendon bone, ACLR: anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, WB: weight bearing.

Table 2

Summary of published clinical results of functional brace after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

BPTB: bone patella tendon bone, IKDC: International Knee Documentation Committee, ACLR: anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, ACL: anterior cruciate ligament, VAS: visual analogue scale, NR: not reported.

Notes

^{Conflict of Interest} No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

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