In 2004 the employee has an injury to the knee. There is no loss of motion, no instability and no thigh atrophy. The employee must wear a stretch knee brace. What is the standard rating?

• A. 0%
• B. 7%
• C. 10%
• D. 15%

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that permanent impairment ratings are based on objective loss of function. If there is no loss of motion, no instability, and no thigh atrophy, there isn’t any measurable impairment in the knee to rate. Wearing a stretch knee brace may be part of treatment or protection after an injury, but it doesn’t by itself create a permanent impairment that would be assigned a percentage rating. Therefore, the standard rating is zero percent because there’s no impairment to quantify under the AMA Guides criteria used for these ratings. If later there were ROM limitations, instability, or atrophy, a nonzero rating could apply.