Prophylactic Braces
Limited evidence supports that the practitioner might not prescribe prophylactic knee braces to prevent ACL injury, because they do not reduce the risk for ACL injury.
LIMITED RECOMMENDATION Rationale
One moderate strength and one low strength study demonstrated no reduction in ACL injury rates with ACL prophylactic bracing in high school and collegiate American football players.25, 108
Future Research
Additional research could investigate the effect of prophylactic bracing in other populations (i.e. adolescent female soccer players) in which ACL injury rates are high.
Future Research
Additional research could investigate the effect of prophylactic bracing in other populations (i.e. adolescent female soccer players) in which ACL injury rates are high.
- (108) Sitler M, Ryan J, Hopkinson W et al. The efficacy of a prophylactic knee brace to reduce knee injuries in football. A prospective, randomized study at West Point. Am J Sports Med 1990;18:310-315.
- (25) Deppen RJ, Landfried MJ. Efficacy of prophylactic knee bracing in high school football players. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 1994;20:243-246.