ArticleOrthopaedic journal of sports medicine2023
Prophylactic Knee Bracing in Offensive Linemen of the National Football League: A Retrospective Analysis of Usage Trends, Player Performance, and Major Knee Injury.
Article in Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prophylactic Knee Bracing in College Football Players Is Associated With a Low Rate of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tears.Arthroscopy, sports medicine, and rehabilitation · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Offensive linemen in American football are prone to high-energy valgus forces to the knee, leading to associated injuries. Some offensive linemen in the National Football League (NFL) wear prophylactic knee braces (PKB) to prevent ligamentous injury. Purpose/Hypothesis: This purpose of the study was to compare injury rates and performance between NFL offensive linemen who wear PKB and those who do not. It was hypothesized that brace wear would be associated with fewer major knee injuries and no difference in gameplay performance. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: For the 2014 through 2020 NFL seasons, offensive linemen with at least 200 game snaps per regular season were identified. Players were grouped by PKB status (bracers vs nonbracers) based on visualization of bilateral, dual-hinged metal knee braces as part of gameday uniforms on publicly available imaging databases and/or game videos. Major knee injuries, defined as those requiring the missing of games, were identified using publicly available data. Performance was assessed with Pro Football Focus grades for each season. Rates of major knee injury were compared between groups with the 2-sample Results: For the cumulative study period, bracers demonstrated a significantly lower rate of major knee injuries than nonbracers (0.013 vs 0.049 injuries per player, respectively; Conclusion: Results indicated that knee brace prophylaxis by NFL offensive linemen was associated with a reduced risk of major knee injury without a significant difference in performance when compared with nonbracers. Despite this, the prevalence of PKB declined over the study period.
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