Review Question - QID 1402

It is felt that prophylactic bracing may decrease the incidence and severity of medial collateral ligament (MCL) injuries, however the data is not strong and some studies have failed to show any benefit. The literature does not show a clear risk reduction for ACL tears. There is no documented decrease in ankle injuries. In fact, there is some concern that as knee motion is restrained with bracing, the adjacent ankle joint may be subject to increased stress and possibly increased risk of injury.

Albright et al. in a non-randomized study of college football players noted a consistent but not statistically significant tendency for the players wearing preventive knee braces to experience a lower injury rate than for their unbraced counterparts.

Najibi and Albright noted that preventive knee braces appear to offer some protection to the MCL from a contact injury involving a valgus blow. They cite the West Point randomized control study which showed that unbraced athletes had a statistically higher injury rate (3.4/1000 exposures) than their braced counterparts (1.5/1000 exposures), with the most significance for MCL sprains in defensive players.

Pietrosimone et al performed a systematic review and found the results to be inconsistent. They concluded that the data cannot be used to advocate or discourage the use of prophylactic knee braces.