Objectives in treating primarily unicompartmental knee arthritis with a load-shifting brace are pain relief, compliance, brace durability, and complication-free treatment over multiple years. This was a single institution retrospective chart review, radiograph review, and telephone survey of patients treated from 1997 to 1999 with a load-shifting knee brace. Forty-six patients (49 knees) with a...

All fifteen subjects demonstrated no separation (bone-on-bone) of their medial compartment, at heel-strike, without the assistance of an offloading device. While using a lateral HWI, medial compartment separation could only be detected in 5/15 subjects (33%), but 12/15 subjects (80%) felt pain relief of their osteoarthritic knee at heel-strike. While wearing an osteoarthritic offloading knee br...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of right leg restriction at the knee, ankle or both, on a driver's braking times. Previous studies have not investigated the effects of knee restriction on braking performance. A total of 23 healthy drivers performed a series of emergency braking tests in a driving simulator in either an above-knee plaster cast, a below-knee cast, or in a...

BACKGROUND The knee joint is vulnerable to various injuries and degenerative conditions, potentially leading to functional instability. Usual treatments involve knee orthoses to support the joint. However, the level of mechanical action of these devices remains controversial despite high prescription and demand. METHODS The mechanical ability of three commercial hinged knee braces and one sle...

Objectives: To determine if immobilization of the knee at varying degrees of knee flexion will limit the surface electromygraphical (sEMG) activity of hamstring muscles during crutch-assisted ambulation. Methods: Ten healthy participants walked with crutches with the knee maintained at 0°, 30°, 60° and 90° of knee flexion, both with and without a brace. The leg was non-weight bearing for all tr...

BACKGROUND A need exists for a functional anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) brace that dynamically supports the knee joint to match the angle-dependent forces of a native ACL, especially in the early postoperative period. PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS The purpose of this study was to quantify the posteriorly directed external forces applied to the anterior proximal tibia by both a static and a dynamic fo...

introduction: knee joint osteoarthritis is one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal problems in adult population, which cause pain and functional limitations. involvement of medial compartment is almost 10 times more common than lateral compartment, which results in varus deformity among patients with medial compartment osteoarthritis of knee joint. main objectives in the treatment of knee joi...

Decreases in patellofemoral pain have been demonstrated with bracing; however, the mechanisms of pain reduction remain unclear. Our purpose was to evaluate the hypothesis that patellofemoral bracing decreases peak pressure on the retropatellar surface through an increase in patellofemoral contact area. Nine cadaveric knees were tested during simulated free-speed walking with no brace, a knee sl...

Abnormal patellofemoral joint motion is a possible cause of patellofemoral pain, and patellar braces are thought to alleviate pain by restoring normal joint kinematics. We evaluated whether females with patellofemoral pain exhibit abnormal patellofemoral joint kinematics during dynamic, weight-bearing knee extension and assessed the effects of knee braces on patellofemoral motion. Real-time mag...

BACKGROUND Unloading knee braces often are used after tibiofemoral articular cartilage repair. However, the experimental basis for their use in patients with normal tibiofemoral alignment such as those undergoing cartilage repair is lacking. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of varus and valgus adjustments to one commercially available unloader knee br...