BACKGROUND Lateral knee osteoarthritis is notably common after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). While valgus bracing has been investigated as an intervention for medial knee osteoarthritis (OA), little is known about the effectiveness of varus bracing for lateral knee OA after ACLR. PURPOSE To determine the immediate effects of a varus unloader knee brace on gait biomechanics...

BACKGROUND Trunk lean over the stance limb during gait has been linked to a reduction in the knee adduction moment, which is associated with joint loading. We examined differences in knee adduction moments and frontal plane trunk lean during gait between subjects with knee osteoarthritis and a control group of healthy adults. METHODS Gait analysis was performed on 80 subjects (40 osteoarthrit...

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...

Marcus Brown Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada Background Bracing is a treatment option for medial knee osteoarthritis [1] that unloads the medial knee through the application of an external moment (brace moment) [2]. In theory, the brace moment is designed to reduce the total external adduction moment, as disease severity and external addu...

BACKGROUND Interpreting gait data is challenging due to intersubject variability observed in the gait pattern of both normal and pathological populations. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of using principal component analysis for grouping knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients' gait data in more homogeneous groups when studying the effect of a physiotherapy treatment. METH...

PURPOSE This study investigated the relationship between muscular strength about the knee and knee joint moments during gait in patients who had undergone arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM). METHODS One hundred and two APM patients and 42 age-matched nonoperated controls underwent strength testing and three-dimensional gait analysis. Patients were divided into weak and normal subgroups a...

As the prevalence of obesity continues to increase at the population level, there is increasing concern about the impact of co-morbidities such as osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a loading-related disease and its development and progression have been linked to excess body weight [1]. Changes in gait biomechanics, particularly at the knee, have been associated with increasing osteoarthritis se...

BACKGROUND High dynamic loads of the medial knee are associated with tibiofemoral osteoarthritis (OA) severity and progression. The lower extremity acts as an integrated kinetic unit, thus treatments targeting adjacent segments may promote reductions in the loading of a symptomatic knee. This study examined the biomechanical effects of a lower extremity exercise regimen, emphasizing training of...