EFFECT OF DONJOY ANKLE LIGAMENT PROTECTOR AND AIRCAST SPORT-STIRRUP ORTHOSES ON FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE

Clinicians often are faced with the task of selecting an ankle orthosi s that will provide protection against ankle sprain injury and will no t have a deleterious effect on functional performance. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of the Donjoy(R) Ankle Ligament Protector (ALP) and the Aircast(R) Sport-Stirrup(TM) (AS) on three fun ctional performance tasks: the 40-m sprint run, the figure-of-eight ru n, and the standing vertical jump. Subjects were eight males and eight females who reported no history of ankle injury during the 6 months p rior to testing neurological condition, lower extremity surgery or pat hology, or cardiac, pulmonary, vascular, or balance problems. Each sub ject performed all functional tasks on the first test day with both an kles unbraced and with one randomly selected ankle braced with one of the two orthoses. Each subject returned for testing on a second day an d performed all tasks with both ankles unbraced and with the other ort hosis on the previously selected ankle. Subjects also rated the orthos es for comfort and support. An ANOVA indicated that braced data were n ot significantly different than unbraced data and that data for the tw o orthoses did not differ significantly for any of the functional perf ormance tasks. Seventy-five percent of the subjects reported the AS wa s more comfortable than the ALP, and 63% of the subjects indicated tha t the ALP provided more support than the AS. Neither orthosis had a de leterious effect on functional performance. The results may assist cli nicians in selecting either of these orthoses for use in protection ag ainst ankle sprain injury.