Author/Authors :
Jacobi, Matthias Department of Orthopedic Surgery - HFR Hˆopital Cantonal - Fribourg, Switzerland , Reischl, Nikolaus Department of Orthopedic Surgery - HFR Hˆopital Cantonal - Fribourg, Switzerland , Rönn, Karolin Department of Orthopedic Surgery - HFR Hˆopital Cantonal - Fribourg, Switzerland , Gautier, Emanuel Department of Orthopedic Surgery - HFR Hˆopital Cantonal - Fribourg, Switzerland , Jakob, Roland P. Department of Orthopedic Surgery - HFR Hˆopital Cantonal - Fribourg, Switzerland , Magnusson, Robert A. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery - Sports Health and Performance Institute - The Ohio State University - Columbus - OH, USA
Abstract :
The injured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) has a limited healing capacity leading to persisting instability.Hypothesis/Purpose. To study if the application of a brace, producing a dynamic posterior drawer force, after acute ACL injuryreduces initial instability.Study Design. Cohort study.Methods. Patients treated with the ACL-Jack brace were compared to controlstreatedwithprimaryACLreconstructionundcontrolstreatednonsurgicallywithfunctionalrehabilitation.Measurementsincludedanterior laxity (Rolimeter), clinical scores (Lysholm, Tegner, and IKDC), and MRI evaluation. Patients were followed up to 24months.Results. Patients treated with the ACL-Jack brace showed a significant improvement of anterior knee laxity comparableto patients treated with ACL reconstruction, whereas laxity persisted after nonsurgical functional rehabilitation. The failure risk(secondary reconstruction necessary) of the ACL-Jack group was however 21% (18 of 86) within 24 months. Clinical scores weresimilar in all treatment groups.Conclusion. Treatment of acute ACL tears with the ACL-Jack brace leads to improved anterior kneelaxity compared to nonsurgical treatment with functional rehabilitation
Keywords :
Healing , Acutely Injured AnteriorCruciate Ligament , Functional Treatment , ACL-Jack , Dynamic Posterior Drawer Brace
