Background. The injured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) has a limited healing capacity leading to persisting instability.\nHypothesis/Purpose. To study if the application of a brace, producing a dynamic posterior drawer force, after acute ACL injury\nreduces initial instability. Study Design. Cohort study. Methods. Patients treated with the ACL-Jack brace were compared to controls\ntreatedwithprimaryACL reconstructionundcontrols treatednonsurgicallywith functional rehabilitation.Measurements included\nanterior laxity (Rolimeter), clinical scores (Lysholm, Tegner, and IKDC), and MRI evaluation. Patients were followed up to 24\nmonths. Results. Patients treated with the ACL-Jack brace showed a significant improvement of anterior knee laxity comparable\nto patients treated with ACL reconstruction, whereas laxity persisted after nonsurgical functional rehabilitation. The failure risk\n(secondary reconstruction necessary) of the ACL-Jack group was however 21% (18 of 86) within 24 months. Clinical scores were\nsimilar in all treatment groups. Conclusion. Treatment of acute ACL tears with the ACL-Jack brace leads to improved anterior knee\nlaxity compared to nonsurgical treatment with functional rehabilitation.
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