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Citation
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Dammerer D, Giesinger JM, Biedermann R, Haid C, Krismer M, Liebensteiner M. Arthroscopy 2014; 31(3): 404-409. |
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Abstract
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PURPOSE: To assess driving ability (brake response time [BRT]) with commonly used knee braces.
METHODS: Sixty-four healthy participants (32 women and 32 men) participated in our study. BRT was assessed using a custom-made driving simulator. We assessed BRT for 5 different commonly used knee braces (right leg) used in 9 different settings: without a knee brace (control group); with a typical postoperative knee brace with adjustable range of motion (ROM) and the settings of 0° to 30°, 0° to 60°, 0° to 90°, and 20° to 90° (extension and flexion); and with an unloading knee brace for moderate to severe unicompartmental osteoarthritis, an orthosis for ligament instabilities, a knee brace for patellofemoral disorders, and an elastic knee bandage.
RESULTS: The 64 participants (mean age, 33.5 years) showed significantly impaired BRT with the typical postoperative brace set at an ROM of 0° to 30° (673 milliseconds, P <.001), ROM of 0° to 60° (629 milliseconds, P <.001), ROM of 0° to 90° (607 milliseconds, P =.001), and ROM of 20° to 90° (602 milliseconds, P =.005) compared with the control group. However, no such impaired BRT was found for any other investigated knee brace.
CONCLUSIONS: Right-sided ROM-restricting knee braces involve significant impairment of BRT in healthy participants. No such prolonged BRT was found for a patellofemoral realignment brace, a ligament brace, a valgus/osteoarthritis brace, or an elastic knee bandage. However, our findings should be viewed in light of the limitations of the study, which are (1) the lack of a defined decrease in BRT that could lead to an accident and (2) uncertainty of whether the statistical differences are also clinically important. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II, lesser-quality randomized controlled trial.
Language: en |