TY - JOUR T1 - Treatment of acute ankle sprains: evidence on the use of an ankle brace is unclear JF - British Journal of Sports Medicine JO - Br J Sports Med SP - 852 LP - 853 DO - 10.1136/bjsports-2012-091533 VL - 46 IS - 12 AU - Irene L C Heijnders AU - Chung-Wei Christine Lin Y1 - 2012/09/01 UR - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/46/12/852.abstract N2 - Kemler E, van de Port I, Backx F, et al. A systematic review on the treatment of acute ankle sprain: brace versus other functional treatment types. Sports Med 2011;41:185–97. Ankle sprains are common, with an incidence of 60–70 per 10 000.1 Functional treatment (ie, brace, bandage or tape that allows some exercise or walking) appears more efficacious than cast immobilisation after ankle sprain,2 ,3 but the optimal type of functional treatment is unclear. A 2002 Cochrane systematic review reported a significantly shorter period in returning to work and sports if ankle braces rather than elastic bandages were used.3 However, this review included few studies and more studies are now available.4 The aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of ankle braces when compared with other functional treatment for acute ankle sprains. The search was conducted in four databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL and CENTRAL) and the reference lists of included studies. All randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials, published between 1990 and April 2009, written in English, Dutch or German, which compared the treatment of acute ankle sprain with braces and other functional treatment, were included. Studies had to report on one or more outcome measures (detailed below). Search terms consisted of … ER -