Article

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. 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.
CI - Copyright (c) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS