OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of various orthotic treatments for patients with isolated medial compartment osteoarthritis. DESIGN Prospective cohort study with sequential interventions. SETTING University-affiliated hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS From December 2010 to November 2011, 10 patients with medial knee osteoarthritis were referred by orthopaedic surgeons for orthotic tre...

During human movement, the leg can be represented as a mechanical spring, with its stiffness potentially contributing to sports performance and injury prevention. Although many individuals perform athletic activities with joint stabilizers, little is known about the effects of prophylactic lower extremity braces on leg stiffness. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of ankl...

Knee orthotic devices are widely proposed by physicians and medical practitioners for preventive or therapeutic objectives in relation with their effects, usually known as to stabilize joint or restrict ranges of motion. The objectives of this work are to characterize the performance of knee orthoses using a Finite Element Model of a braced human leg. The interface properties of the model are c...

In this cross-over study, we evaluated two types of knee brace commonly used in the conservative treatment of osteoarthritis of the medial compartment. Twelve patients confirmed radiologically as having unilateral osteoarthritis of the medial compartment (Larsen grade 2 to grade 4) were studied. Treatment with a simple hinged brace was compared with that using a valgus corrective brace. Knee ki...

Braces designed to unload the more diseased compartment of the knee have been used to provide symptomatic relief from osteoarthritis (OA). Research on the efficacy of these braces is needed. Thirty-one patients with knee OA were randomized to receive an unloader brace (n = 16) or not to receive a brace (control group, n = 15). Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcomes Score (KOOS) and visual anal...

OBJECTIVE Braces used to treat (PF) osteoarthritis (OA) may reduce contact stress across the PF joint. We hypothesised that in PF OA, braces would decrease knee pain and shrink PF bone marrow lesions (BMLs). METHODS Eligible subjects had painful PF OA. Subjects were randomly allocated to brace or no brace for 6 weeks. Knee MRIs were acquired at baseline and 6 weeks. We measured BMLs on post-c...

We used five randomly selected cadaver specimens to evaluate the Anderson Knee Stabler and the Lenox Hill Knee Brace, individually and in combination with an anterior cruciate ligament protective tape method. Reduction of total laxity, as well as a defined pathologic anterior-posterior translation and internal-external rotation, was tested after the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligam...

INTRODUCTION Valgus knee braces are effective at decreasing pain and improving function in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) [1]. The braces are designed to decrease loading in the medial knee compartment but previous studies are unclear if this truly occurs. Alternatively, changes in the neuromuscular system might account for the benefits of bracing. An earlier study with a small sample d...

Previously, we reported a prospective study of 30 patients with unicompartmental osteoarthritis of the knee treated nonoperatively with an unloader brace and average follow-up of 2.7 years. Although the initial study suggested short-term benefit according to pain and function measures, the objective of the current study was to evaluate these same patients via telephone questionnaire to determin...

OBJECTIVES External ankle support has been successfully used to prevent ankle sprains. However, some recent studies have indicated that reducing ankle range of motion can place larger loads on the knee. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of external ankle support (braces and high-top shoes) on the ankle and knee joint loading during a netball specific landing task. DESIGN A r...