Effects of Prophylactic Knee Bracing on Lower Limb Kinematics, Kinetics, and Energetics during Double-Leg Drop Landing at 2 Heights

Abstract

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries commonly occur during landing maneuvers. Prophylactic knee braces were introduced to reduce the risk of ACL injuries, but their effectiveness is debated. Hypotheses: We hypothesized that bracing would improve biomechanical factors previously related to the risk of ACL injuries, such as increased hip and knee flexion angles at initial contact and at peak vertical ground-reaction force (GRF), increased ankle plantar flexion angles at initial contact, decreased peak GRFs, and decreased peak knee extension moment. We also hypothesized that bracing would increase the negative power and work of the hip joint and would decrease the negative powe..