Post-operative use of knee brace in bone–tendon–bone patellar tendon anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: 5-year follow-up results of a randomized prospective study

Authors: Harilainen, A.; Sandelin, J.

Source: Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, Volume 16, Number 1, February 2006 , pp. 14-18(5)

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $48.00 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

Sixty patients were prospectively randomized to brace and no-brace groups after bone–tendon–bone patellar tendon anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. The brace group wore a rehabilitation knee brace for 12 weeks post-operatively, while the no-brace group was mobilized immediately, and crutches were discarded 2 weeks post-operatively. The groups were comparable with respect to age, gender, time from injury to surgery and concomitant injuries. There were no differences either pre-operatively or 5 years post-operatively (80% of patients reviewed) between the groups in terms of the knee score (Lysholm), activity level (Tegner), degree of laxity or isokinetic peak muscle torque. Thus it appears that knee braces are not needed in the post-operative rehabilitation after ACL reconstruction with the patellar tendon graft.

Keywords: post-operative rehabilitation brace; anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction; bone–tendon–bone

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2004.00435.x

Publication date: 2006-02-01