Objective Assessment of Dynamic Bracing after PCL Injury
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Objective Assessment of the Efficacy of Dynamic Bracing after Posterior Cruciate Ligament Injury
IRAS ID
197933
Contact name
Jonathon Lavelle
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Fortius Clinic
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The PCL is a ligament in the knee which can be torn when the knee is injured causing the knee joint to become loose and unstable. Although the ligament can heal naturally it is important that the knee joint surfaces are held in the correct position while the healing takes place. If this does not happen the PCL becomes stretched and can cause long term problems or require surgery to reconstruct it.
Traditionally patients would be treated by having the leg put in a long leg plaster cast but this causes the knee to become very stiff and the muscles to waste. More recently patients have been treated with specific knee braces that provide a force to the back of the upper calf that stops the lower surface of the knee joint slipping backwards. The benefit of this is that the knee joint is still able to move which prevents it from becoming stiff and the muscles from wasting so much. Although these dynamic knee braces are already in use there is limited evidence to demonstrate their effectiveness.
This study aims to measure the laxity in the knee of patients after they have injured their PCL and to see if it improves after being treated with the brace. These measurements will be taken just after their injury and again after treatment with a dynamic PCL brace. This will determine whether the brace prevents the ligament from stretching as it heals.
REC name
London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/1853
Date of REC Opinion
16 Nov 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion