This systematic review aimed to investigate whether the use of a knee brace when returning to sport (RTS) could prevent a second injury after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). This study was registered with the PROSPERO database and followed PRISMA guidelines. A systematic search of PubMed, Ovid Medline, Ovid All EBM Reviews, Ovid Embase, EBSCO Sportdiscus and ISI Web of Science databases for meta-analysis, randomized controlled trials and prospective cohort studies published before July 2020 was undertaken. The inclusion criteria were: (1) Comparing with and without a brace at RTS, (2) follow up of at least 18 months after ACLR, (3) reinjury rates included in the outcomes. Two reviewers independently extracted the data. Quality appraisal analyses were performed for each study using the Cochrane Collaboration tools for randomized and nonrandomized trials. A total of 1196 patients in three studies were included. One study showed a lower rate of reinjury when wearing a knee brace at RTS. One study found the knee brace to have a significant protective effect for younger patients (≤17 years). The effectiveness of knee bracing when RTS remains ambiguous. Current data cannot support that using a knee brace when RTS will decrease the rate of reinjury after ACL reconstruction.
Keywords: anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction; incidence rate; knee brace; re-tear; second injury.