Effects of prophylactic knee bracing on knee joint kinetics and kinematics during netball specific movements (original) (raw)
Related papers
Kinetic and 3D Kinematic analysis of netball movements: with and without prophylactic knee bracing
2016
Patellofemoral pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal pain conditions, with a multifactorial aetiology. It is reported that young females are at high risk of developing patellofemoral pain. During dynamic, fast-paced games athletes are exposed to high ground reaction forces, contributing to lower body injury occurrence during landing and high patellofemoral loads. Knee braces, such as knee sleeves, are commonly used for patellofemoral pain; however the underlying mechanisms on the patellofemoral joint remain unclear. An increase in understanding of joint mechanics during sporting and functional tasks could help our understanding of injury mechanisms and preventative interventions. The aim is to identify any changes in the kinetics and kinematics of the tibiofemoral joint and the patellofemoral loading experienced in healthy subjects during a range of functional movements with and without a prophylactic knee sleeve.
South African Journal of Sports Medicine
Objective. To investigate the effects of prophylactic knee bracing on proprioceptive performance among first division rugby union players during a 2-minute Wilknox Quad Time Logger balancing task. Design. Each subject performed a 2-minute balancing task on the Wilknox Quad Time Logger. Test order, left or right leg, and the sequence of brace or non-brace, were randomised. Subjects were placed on the balancing board and instructed to balance for 2 minutes. Subjects performed 6 trials. Two days elapsed between testing. Each testing day involved 2 trials, 1 trial with and 1 without the prophylactic knee brace. Settings. Testing took place at the biokinetics laboratory of the University of Zululand. Subjects. Thirty playing (not injured) male rugby players, aged 22 - 30 years, participating in the KwaZulu-Natal club championships (2000). Outcome measure. Performance was measured in terms of time that balance was lost in a dynamic balance test. Peak proprioception was the best balancing ...
Gait & Posture, 2016
Highlights The pivot turn jump showed the largest knee valgus and internal rotation angle No differences were seen in the sagittal plane between brace and no brace Bracing showed an improvement in coronal and transverse plane knee control The use of proprioceptive braces may help to decrease risk of knee injuries Abstract Introduction: Proprioceptive knee braces have been shown to improve knee mechanics, however much of the work to date has focused on tasks such as slow step down tasks rather than more dynamic sporting tasks. Objective: This study aimed to explore if such improvements in stability may be seen during faster sports specific tasks as well as slower tasks. Method: Twelve subjects performed a slow step down, single leg drop jump and pivot turn jump with and without a silicone web brace. 3D kinematics of the knee were collected using a ten camera Qualisys motion analysis system. Reflective markers were placed on the foot, shank, thigh and pelvis using the Calibrated Anatomical Systems Technique. A two way ANOVA with repeated measures was performed with post-hoc pairwise comparison to explore the differences between the two conditions and three tasks. Results: Significant differences were seen in the knee joint angles and angular velocities in the sagittal, coronal and transverse planes between the tasks. The brace showed a reduction in knee valgum and internal rotation across all tasks, with the most notable effect during the single leg drop jump and pivot turn jump. The transverse plane also showed a significant reduction in the external rotation knee angular velocity when wearing the brace. Discussion: The brace influenced the knee joint kinematics in coronal and transverse planes which confirms that such braces can have a significant effect on knee control during dynamic tasks. Further studies are required exploring the efficacy of proprioceptive braces in athletic patient cohort.
British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2011
Objectives To investigate performance levels and accommodation period to functional knee brace (FKB) use in non-injured braced subjects while completing acceleration, agility, lower extremity power and speed tasks. Design A 2 (non-braced and braced conditions) × 5 (testing sessions) repeated-measures design. Methods 27 healthy male athletes were provided a custom fi tted FKB. Each subject performed acceleration, agility, leg power and speed tests over 6 days; fi ve non-braced testing sessions over 3 days followed by fi ve braced testing sessions also over 3 days. Each subject performed two testing sessions (3.5 h per session) each day. Performance levels for each test were recorded during each non-braced and braced trial. Repeated measures analysis of variance, with a post hoc Tukey's test for any test found to be signifi cant, were used to determine if accommodation to FKB was possible in healthy braced subjects. Results Initial performance levels were lower for braced than non-braced for all tests (acceleration p=0.106; agility p=0.520; leg power p=0.001 and speed p=0.001). However, after using the FKB for approximately 14.0 h, no signifi cant performance differences were noted between the two testing conditions (acceleration non-braced, 0.53±0.
PloS one, 2012
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 = 21.261.5) 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, 300u/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.
Journal of physical therapy science, 2015
Purpose] The main purpose of our study was the evaluation of the effects of long-term volleyball practice on knee joint proprioception and balance of young female athletes. [Subjects and Methods] An observational case-control study was performed. The study enrolled 19 female volleyball players in the experimental group and 19 sedentary counterparts as controls. A Biodex balance system and dynamometer were used for the evaluations. The paired t-test was used to determine the significance of differences between the performance of athletes and controls.
PeerJ
The aim of this study was to determine changes in knee biomechanics during badminton lunges due to fatigue, lunge strategy and knee bracing. Kinetic and kinematic data were collected from 16 experienced right-handed badminton players. Three factor repeated measures ANOVAs (lunge direction—fatigue—brace) were performed with Least Significant Difference pairwise comparisons. In addition, clinical assessments including; Y-balance test, one leg hop distance and ankle dorsiflexion range of motion were performed pre- and postfatigue. The knee showed significantly greater flexion during the forehand lunge compared to backhand. In contrast, the internal rotation velocity and the knee extension moment were greater during backhand. Knee angular velocity in the sagittal plane, peak knee moment and range of moment in the coronal plane and stance time showed significantly lower values postfatigue. In addition, the peak knee adduction moment showed significantly lower values in the braced conditi...
INFLUENCE OF A FUNCTIONAL KNEE BRACE ON LOWER EXTREMITY KINETICS
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2002
Context: Functional knee braces (FKB) are used prophylactically and in rehabilitation to aide in the functional stability of the knee joint. Objective: To determine if alterations in sagittal plane lower extremity kinematics remain evident throughout a one hour period in healthy individuals. Design: 2X5 repeated measures design. Setting: Biomechanics Laboratory. Subjects: Twenty subjects (14 male and 6 female, mean age 26.5±7 yrs; height 172.4±13 cm; weight 78.6±9 kg), separated into braced (B) and no brace (NB) groups. Intervention: A one-hour exercise program divided into three 20 minute increments. Main Outcome Measures: Synchronized three-dimensional kinematic data were collected at 20-minute increments to assess the effect of the FKB on select lower extremity joint kinematics. Results: Hip, knee and ankle joint position were not significantly affected by time (exercise). However significant decreases in hip (p = .05) and knee flexion (p < .05) were noted in the B group compared to the NB group regardless of time while ankle joint position was unaffected. Conclusions: Hip and knee flexion angles were reduced in the B group compared to the NB group, while ankle joint position was not affected. Wearing a knee brace appears to not only influence knee joint position but also hip joint position. It is possible that repetitive changes to hip joint kinematics may be detrimental to hip and low back function and thus lead to injury.