Knee orthosis for anterior cruciate ligament injuries - kinematics and comfortability study

Abstract

Knee orthosis is commonly used in supporting the knee movement and protecting the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries from worsening. In clinical practices, there are many types of ready-made orthoses that available in the market. However, different types of orthoses may provide different performances for patient’s knee joint. Therefore, this paper attempt to investigate the performance of knee orthoses for ACL-injured knee. Two groups took part in the study; (Group 1) six ACL-injured, (Group 2) four healthy participants, where two types of knee orthoses were adopted; (Brace 1) hinge brace, (Brace 2) sleeve brace with bilateral hinges. The knee joint motions were calculated using kinematics data while comfortability was conducted through surveys. From the findings, Brace 1 produced normal range of motion (ROM) for internal rotation at 5.47° while Brace 2 fall outside of the normal range at 2.165°. Meanwhile, the external rotation for Brace 1 (-13.25°) was lower than Brace 2 (-33.25°). Furthermore, the comfortability analysis suggested that Brace 1 (60%) was more effective than Brace 2 (40%). To conclude, Brace 1 portrayed optimal performance than Brace 2 during dynamic balance activities with reduction in ROM to prevent excessive knee rotation.