A Biomechanical Comparison Shows No Difference Between Two Knee Braces used for Medial Collateral Ligament Injuries.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the ability of 2 commonly used knee braces to control knee valgus motion and subsequent strain on the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in a laboratory-controlled environment.

Methods: Twenty healthy individuals (6 male, 14 female; mean age, 23 ± 3 years) with no history of knee injury or brace use performed a jump landing task while wearing either no brace or 1 of 2 braces: the Playmaker and Total Range of Motion . Three-dimensional joint kinematics and kinetics were measured in our biomechanics laboratory.

Results: Significantly less knee dynamic valgus angulation was noted when using either brace (-0.51° ± 3.9° and -1.3° ± 3.2°) compared no brace (4.8° ± 3.0°). Dynamic valgus angulation did not differ significantly between the 2 braces tested, which were both not statistically different from baseline alignment. There were significant differences seen in peak knee flexion angle between each brace (77.9° ± 8.8°and 83.1° ± 8.4°), as well as between both braces and no brace (90.6° ± 11.1°). There was no significant difference in knee frontal plane moment or peak vertical ground reaction force loading among all 3 testing conditions.

Conclusions: Compared to no brace, both braces allowed significantly less dynamic valgus angulation of the knee under physiological vertical loads but were not significantly different from one another.

Clinical Relevance: Knee braces are commonly used to protect the MCL when placed under physiological loads. It is important to know which braces effectively reduce valgus stress to provide the best outcomes.