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Nemati Z, Jalali M, Sanjari M A, Bagherifard A. The Effect of Hybrid Knee Brace on Kinesiophobia, Proprioception, and Coping Ability After Acute Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture: A Pilot Randomized Trial. jrehab 2025; 25 (4) :824-847
URL: http://rehabilitationj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-3415-en.html

Objective After anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture, copers have better neuromuscular control and kinesiophobia than non-copers. Using a knee brace can improve mechanical stability and proprioception after an injury. This study aims to determine the effect of using a hybrid knee brace in acute ACL rupture on coping ability, kinesiophobia, and proprioception.
Materials & Methods In this randomized clinical trial study, 30 people with acute ACL rupture were allocated into the experimental (Mean±SD age: 29.6±7.7 years, Mean±SD time since injury: 37.7±20.7 days) and control groups (Mean±SD age: 27.8±7.0 years, Mean±SD time since injury: 48.0±21.3 days). The sampling method was nonprobability, convenient sampling, and was randomly assigned to the control and intervention groups using permutation blocks (four blocks of four). The experimental group used the hybrid knee brace for 4 weeks during daily activities, 4 hours a day, along with routine physiotherapy. The physiotherapy program included increasing the knee’s range of motion, reducing edema, and strengthening exercises for the quadriceps and hamstring muscles, which were performed by an experienced therapist for both groups in 10 sessions. After one month, the coping ability was measured by screening examination; kinesiophobia was measured by the Tampa scale (TSK-11), and proprioception was assessed by joint position sense measurement by a dynamometer. Mixed within-between analysis of variance was used to evaluate the variables. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software, version 22 with a significant level of 0.05.
Results Based on the screening examination, 7 people in the experimental group (53.8%) and 3 in the control group (23.1%) were copers after the intervention. However, the difference between the two groups was not significant. Regarding joint position sense, the experimental group had less deviation from the target angle (3.22±1.55 degrees) than the control group (6.32±1.70 degrees) (P<0.001). The score of the Tampa questionnaire improved in both groups (P<0.001) without any significant difference between them.
Conclusion Using a hybrid knee brace after an acute ACL injury can increase proprioception and coping ability in the patients and may reduce the need for ligament reconstruction surgery.