A biomechanical and clinical evaluation of a patellofemoral knee brace.

A clinical and biomechanical evaluation of a patellofemoral knee brace was conducted to determine subjectively and objectively if the brace was effective in controlling knee motion and relieving patellofemoral pain symptoms. The subjective results indicated that the patellofemoral brace was able to significantly improve the level of perceived knee stability and decrease the level of pain experienced by all the subjects during their daily living and athletic activities. The objective results showed that the patellofemoral brace had no effect on knee flexion angle during gait or level walking, stair ascent, or stair descent for 2 groups of subjects (patellofemoral patients and controls). Joint pain and stability are affected by factors other than knee flexion angle.