Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
PLoS One. 2013 May 23;8(5):e64308. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064308. Print 2013.
Use of functional knee braces has been suggested to provide protection and to improve kinetic performance of the knee in Anterior cruciate ligament(ACL)-injured patients. However, many athletes might refrain from wearing the braces because of the fear of performance hindrance in the playing field. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of three functional knee brace/sleeves upon the isokinetic and functional performance of ACL-deficient and healthy subjects. Six anterior cruciate ligament deficient (29.0 ± 5.3 yrs., 175.2 ± 5.4 cm, and 73.0 ± 10.0 kg) and six healthy male subjects (27.2 ± 3.7 yrs., 176.4 ± 6.4 cm, and 70.3 ± 6.9 kg) were selected. The effect of a custom-made functional knee brace, and two neoprene knee sleeves, one with four metal supports and one without support were examined via the use of isokinetic and functional tests in four sets (non-braced,wearing functional knee brace,and wearing the sleeves). Cross-over hop and single leg vertical jump test were performed and jump height, and hop distance were recorded. Peak torque to body weight ratio and average power in two isokinetic velocities(60°.s(-1),180°.s(-1)) were recorded and the brace/sleeves effect was calculated as the changes in peak torque measured in the brace/sleeves conditions, expressed as a percentage of peak torque measured in non-braced condition. Frequency content of the isokinetic torque-time curves was also analyzed. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare the measured values in four test conditions within each control and ACL-deficient group,and Mann-Whitney U test was used for the comparison between the two groups. No significant differences in peak torque, average power, torque-time curve frequency content, vertical-jump and hop measurements were found within the experimental and the non-braced conditions (p>0.05). Although the examined functional knee brace/sleeves had no significant effect on the knee muscle performance, there have been some enhancement regarding the extension peak torques and power generating capacity of the ACL-deficient subjects that could be helpful in reducing the bilateral asymmetry in these patients.
功能性膝关节支具的使用被认为可以为 ACL 损伤患者的膝关节提供保护并改善其动力学性能。然而，许多运动员可能会因为担心在运动场上妨碍表现而避免佩戴支具。本研究旨在检查三种功能性膝关节支具/护套对 ACL 缺失和健康受试者的等速和功能表现的影响。选择了 6 名前交叉韧带缺失（29.0±5.3 岁，175.2±5.4cm，73.0±10.0kg）和 6 名健康男性受试者（27.2±3.7 岁，176.4±6.4cm，70.3±6.9kg）。通过在四个组（无支具、佩戴功能性膝关节支具和佩戴护套）中使用等速和功能测试来检查定制的功能性膝关节支具和两种氯丁橡胶膝关节护套的效果，一种带有四个金属支撑物，另一种没有支撑物。进行了交叉跳跃和单腿垂直跳跃测试，并记录了跳跃高度和跳跃距离。记录了两个等速速度（60°.s(-1)、180°.s(-1)）下的峰值扭矩与体重比和平均功率，并计算了支具/护套的效果，即测量到的在支具/护套条件下的峰值扭矩的变化，以无支具条件下测量到的峰值扭矩的百分比表示。还分析了等速扭矩-时间曲线的频率内容。使用 Wilcoxon 符号秩检验比较每个对照组和 ACL 缺失组的四个测试条件下的测量值，使用 Mann-Whitney U 检验比较两组之间的差异。在实验和无支具条件下，峰值扭矩、平均功率、扭矩-时间曲线频率内容、垂直跳跃和跳跃测量均无显著差异（p>0.05）。尽管检查的功能性膝关节支具/护套对膝关节肌肉性能没有显著影响，但 ACL 缺失受试者的伸展峰值扭矩和产生能力有所提高，这可能有助于减少这些患者的双侧不对称性。
