University of Oregon

Department of Human Physiology Graduate Studies in Athletic Training and Sports Medicine

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An Examination of Knee Injury Rates in Soccer Athletes with and without Ankle Restriction.

Laef Morris MS, ATC

Context:
Both ankle and knee injuries are common in soccer. The ankle is often protected from injury with ankle taping or bracing, while the knee is not typically prophylactically restricted, however injuries to the knee tend to be more serious. Ankle restriction has been shown to increase knee motion, which leads to a suspicion that taping or bracing of the ankle in soccer athletes may increase the rate of knee injury.

Objective:
To examine the knee injury rates of soccer players with and without ankle tape or braces.

Design:
Prospective observational.

Setting:
College.

Patients or Other Participants:
Collegiate soccer players.

Intervention(s):
None.

Main Outcome Measure(s):
The injury incidence rates are reported as the number of injuries per 1,000 hours of exposure in a given condition.

Results:
Knee injuries were more common in females and during games, however no significant differences were detected between knees with and without a taped or braced ankle.

Conclusions:
Possibly due to the small amount of data collected, no significant differences were seen between the injury rates of knees with and without a restricted ankle. Further investigation should be made with greater control over factors such as sex and exposure setting to determine if a true relationship exists.

Key Words:
lower extremity, kinetic chain, ankle tape, ankle braces