The Effects of a Prophylactic Knee Brace and Two Neoprene Knee Sleeves on the Performance of Healthy Athletes: A Crossover Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Knee injury is one of the major problems in sports medicine, and the use of prophylactic knee braces is an attempt to reduce the occurrence and/or severity of injuries to the knee joint ligament(s) without inhibiting knee mobility. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of one recently designed prophylactic knee brace and two neoprene knee sleeves upon performance of healthy athletes. Thirty-one healthy male athletes (age = 21.2±1.5) volunteered as participants to examine the effect of prophylactic knee brace/sleeves on performance using isokinetic and functional tests. All subjects were tested in four conditions in a random order: 1. nonbraced (control) 2. using a neoprene knee sleeve 3. using a knee sleeve with four bilateral metal supports and 4. using a prophylactic knee brace. The study design was a crossover, randomized, controlled trial. Subjects completed single leg vertical jump, cross-over hop, and the isokinetic knee flexion and extension (at 60, 180, 300°/sec). Data were collected from the above tests and analyzed for jump height, cross-over hop distance, peak torque to body weight ratio and average power, respectively. Comparisons of these variables in the four testing conditions revealed no statistically significant difference (p>0.05). The selected prophylactic brace/sleeves did not significantly inhibit athletic performance which might verify that their structure and design have caused no complication in the normal function of the knee joint. Moreover, it could be speculated that, if the brace or the sleeves had any limiting effect, our young healthy athletic subjects were well able to generate a mean peak torque large enough to overcome this possible restriction. Further studies are suggested to investigate the long term effect of these prophylactic knee brace and sleeves as well as their possible effect on the adjacent joints to the knee.

Effects of knee sleeves on coordination of lower-limb segments in healthy adults during level walking and one-leg hopping

“…These results implied that the knee sleeve less altered the subject performance during the gait and the one-leg hop, which was consistent with the inferences made in previous studies (Bryk et al, 2011; Mortaza et al, 2012). …”

“…Therefore, some studies evaluated the effects of using a knee sleeve on the functional capacity and performance. Mortaza et al (2012) showed that using a knee sleeve did not have any negative effects on the performance of a single-leg vertical jump and a crossover hop in healthy adults. Bryk et al (2011) found that immediate positive effects were seen in the functional capacity of osteoarthritis patients wearing knee sleeves.…”

“…We hypothesized that a knee sleeve might alter joint or segment coordination based on the influences of a knee sleeve on the functional capacity and performance associated with the joint or segment kinematics (Bryk et al, 2011; Collins et al, 2014; Mortaza et al, 2012; Schween, Gehring & Gollhofer, 2015). However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has focused on the effects of using knee sleeves on joint or segment coordination.…”

Effects of prophylactic ankle and knee braces on leg stiffness during hopping

“…Previous studies have reported that semirigid or soft ankle braces do not significantly affect a person’s jumping performance 1,2. Furthermore, several studies have demonstrated that prophylactic knee braces do not significantly inhibit athletic performance during a stop–jump task,3 cross-over hop, or one-legged vertical jump 4,5. However, little is known about the effects of prophylactic lower extremity braces on one-legged hopping, which involves typical spring-like behavior of the legs.…”

http://www.fgcu.edu/Aquila/files/3-2_Neff_Propaganda_on_the_Big_Screen_-_Film_in_the_Soviet_Union_from_1925_to_1936.pdf

“…The knee injuries that can result from these risk factors bursae, patellar tendinitis, and many forms of arthritis [3]. Two publications were found that disclose different kinds of knee braces and on what type of injuries they are best used [4,5]. Since there are multiple types of knee braces, all suited for different injuries, the ones that were analyzed include a prophylactic brace, an unloader brace, and a neoprene sleeve brace.…”