Introduction
The Full Fource™ knee brace is ideal for patients returning to sports-specific activity after knee injury like skiing. The DonJoy® FourcePoint® hinge technology was developed to further protect the ACL and enhance the 4-Points of Leverage design of these high quality knee braces. This Full Fource™ knee brace is shaped for your female patients so they are more likely to enjoy their return to sport after knee injury.
The patented FourcePoint® hinges (click the image to read more) are designed to react during leg extension and offer an increasing resistance in the last 35 degrees of extension, in order to reduce extension shock and increase posterior tibial loads.
Indications
• ACL rupture
• ACL reconstruction for an ACL deficient knee
• Prophylaxis in all but extreme sports
• MCL injuries
• LCL injuries
• Hyperextension injury (not those with isolated PCL and posterolateral corner injury)
Information on Ordering
How do you avoid a mistake when ordering for your patient?
First, choose the right size by marking the mid point of the patella with the patient standing in the schuss position. Measure the circumference of the thigh at 15cm above this point. Then choose the size on the drop down menu. Finally, choose the side to be braced.
x=1=XS=33-39 cm
x=2=S=39-47 cm
x=3=M=47-53 cm
x=4=L=53-60 cm
x=5=XL=60-67 cm
x=6=XXL=67-75 cm
x=7=XXXL=75-81 cm
Innovations
• Clinically proven 4 Points of Leverage™ system pioneered by DonJoy
• Clinically proven LoPro FourcePoint™ hinges, the only bracing technology clinically proven to protect the ACL
• Swooping Thigh cuff for inner thigh clearance and bilateral brace use
• Strong aircraft grade aluminum frame (0.08 - 0.125" thick)
• Anti-Migration band anchors on the upper calf
• Swiveling Internally mounted Strap Tabs to accommodate
• Carbon coat finish
• 1 year warranty on frame and hinges
• 6 months warranty on softgoods
ForcePoint™ Hinge Technology
The hinge resistence serves three critical roles.
• It reduces the time spent during activity at the near or full extension point of the "at risk" position of the knee for non-contact ACL injuries.
• It increases the posterior load on the tibia through the brace to prevent anterior tibial translation
• It eliminates the extension shock that additionally loads the ACL
ACL Reconstruction and Return to Sport
OrthopaedicsAndTrauma.com asked John Hardy about the importance of assessing not just saggital but also rotational proprioception in athletes before return to competition. John is a Consultant Orthopaedic Knee Surgeon at the Chelsea Clinic in London.
John said: It has been my experience over the years that graft ingrowth and maturation varies considerably between patients. Smokers, for example, seem to take much longer to heal and mature the fixation between graft and graft tunnels even with the new calcium composite grafts I use (Frosch KH, Sawallich T, Schütze G, Losch A, Walde T, Balcarek P, Konietschke F, Stürmer KM. Magnetic resonance imaging analysis of the bioabsorbable Milagro interference screw for graft fixation in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Strategies Trauma Limb Reconstr. 2009 Oct;4(2):73-9.). This means that when an athlete has an ACL reconstruction it takes a great deal of clinical experience to assess when it is safe for the individual to return to sport. The assessment of return of rotational proprioception is as important as strength, endurance and proprioception in a saggitasl plane (Muaidi QI, Nicholson LL, Refshauge KM, Adams RD, Roe JP. Effect of anterior cruciate ligament injury and reconstruction on proprioceptive acuity of knee rotation in the transverse plane. Am J Sports Med. 2009 Aug;37(8):1618-26.).
Andy Brown a patient of the internationally recognised knee surgeon Mr Jonathan Eldridge recently contacted OrthopaedicsAndTrauma.com with the followiing message after returning from the ski slopes in France in 2012: "I am back from skiing and very happy to report that the New Donjoy FULLFORCE™ Knee Brace worked ! No injury despite a couple of spectacular wipeouts at 45 mile per hour! The first was on my first day and without the brace I would have almost certainly lost a week of skiing and the great ACL reconstruction I had 3 years ago. Thank you for your help, it allowed me to enjoy a sport I love. Andy"
Reconstruction of a torn ACL is associated with a deficit in the threshold to detection of passive knee motion, and during the first year of healing the use of a knee sleeve provides improvement up to two years after surgery.