Functional knee bracing and ankle mechanics of adolescent athletes post-ACL reconstruction (2014)
Undergraduate: Sarah Wilkey
Faculty Advisor: Meredith Petschauer
Department: Exercise & Sport Science
Objective: To determine whether or not wearing a functional knee brace during rehabilitation affects ankle mechanics in patients six months following ACL reconstruction surgery.
Hypothesis: It was hypothesized that wearing a functional knee brace would increase vertical ground reaction force, decrease ankle range of motion, and increase ankle moments.
Methods: Twenty adolescent patients who had undergone ACL reconstruction surgery were recruited for the study. All subjects were assessed through motion analysis for a stop jump task. Subjects first completed the task while wearing an extension-limiting functional knee brace on the surgical limb and then without wearing the brace. For all subjects, data were collected six months following ACL reconstruction surgery.
Results: There were no significant differences observed between the braced and non-braced conditions.
Conclusions: Functional knee bracing seems to have no effect on the mechanics of the ankle on the surgical side.