The Role of the Knee Brace in the Prevention of Anterior Knee Pain Syndrome

Abstract

Our prospective study evaluates the use of a knee brace with a silicon patellar support ring as a method of preventing anterior knee pain from developing in young persons undergoing strenuous physical exercise. We studied 60 young athletes, who qualified for a strenu ous physical training course and who had not suffered from anterior knee pain previously. Twenty-seven sub jects were in the brace group and 33 were in the nonbrace control group. The incidence of anterior knee pain syndrome increased with the intensity of exertion as the study progressed; i.e., subjects ran 6 km in the 1 st week, gradually increasing each week up to 42 km/week at the 8th week. Yet, there was a significant reduction in the incidence of the syndrome at the end of the study in male athletes who had applied the braces before exercise sessions and in the brace group as a whole, compared with the control group. Prophylactic use of the brace, as described, did not reduce the ability of the athletes who wore braces to improve their physical fitness parameters in response to exercise. These data indicate that the use of a brace may be an effective way to prevent the development of anterior knee pain syndromes in persons participating in strenuous and intensive physical exercise.

Effect of bracing on the prevention of anterior knee pain—a prospective randomized study

“…This could be another limitation of our study, since the symptoms of AKPS could be leveled from mild to severe. But our results are in agreement with the results of BenGal et al [2] although we used another type of brace. BenGal et al [2] studied the efficacy of the knee brace with supportive ring as a means of preventing AKPS in 60 young athletes.…”

“…But our results are in agreement with the results of BenGal et al [2] although we used another type of brace. BenGal et al [2] studied the efficacy of the knee brace with supportive ring as a means of preventing AKPS in 60 young athletes. They found a significant reduction in the incidence of AKPS at the end of the study in the braced group compared to the control group.…”

“…To our knowledge, only one prospective study has been published on the effectiveness of braces in the prevention of anterior knee pain [2]. Therefore, the goal of our study was to prospectively investigate the effectiveness of a neoprene dynamic patellofemoral brace (On-Track System, dj Orthopedics) on the prevention of AKPS during basic military training (BMT) of officer cadets of the Belgian Royal Military Academy.…”

Technical Report: Knee Brace Use in the Young Athlete

“…11 The use of these sleeves should be combined with quadriceps and hamstring flexibility, stretching, and strengthening exercises as well as correction of biomechanical dysfunction of the hip, ankle, or foot and improved sports technique. 6,7,9 Scientific evidence of benefits of the knee sleeve is lacking 3,10,[12][13][14] ; however, patients report benefits that exceed objective effects noticed by researchers. [2][3][4] Knee sleeves are relatively simple to fit and inexpensive.…”

The influence of energy boost and springblade footwear on the kinetics and kinematics of running

“…A large range of preventative/treatment modalities have therefore been explored, such as modifications to training schedules [5][6][7], stretching regimens [8][9][10], warm ups/cool downs [11], external supports [12], orthoses [13,14] and footwear [15] in an attempt to mitigate the high risk of injury in runners. A key preventative modality is to select running shoes with appropriate mechanical midsole characteristics, which can influence the biomechanical mechanisms linked to the aetiology of injury.…”