Do Patients With ACL Reconstruction Have to Wear Braces?
It is not uncommon for patients with ACL reconstructions to continue wearing functional knee braces years after their surgery. The concerns over not using the brace may come from the surgeon worried about failure of the graft or from the patient not feeling that they can do without the brace or worried about reinjury. The current trend is away from recommending long-term bracing with as many as one third of surgeons changing their recommendations. Studies have indicated that the failure load and stiffness properties of the healed graft are similar to normal ACLs after eight months. The following study looked at the differences between patients who continued to wear the brace and those that did not. Risburg MA, Holm I, Steen H, et al. The Effect of Knee Bracing After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Prospective, Randomized Study With Two Years’ Followup. Am J Sports Med 1999;27(1):76-83. The researchers took 60 patients with ACL reconstructions and randomized them into one o
