Effect of Knee Brace in Changing Plantar Pressure in Knee Osteoarthritis: A Biomechanical Study

There are different conservative treatments for the osteoarthritis of the medial compartment of the knee and valgus bracing is considered as important one. The purpose of current study was to examine the efficacy of the brace unloading in changing floor reaction force. Ten patients with osteoarthritis in medial compartment of the knee contributed in this quasi-experimental study with and without using knee braces. The magnitude of the mediolateral vector of the ground reaction force and center of pressure displacement in mediolateral direction were measured by using a force plate system (Kistler Swiss). Statistical tests were used to analyze the data. The mean of displacement of center of pressure (COP) was 25 mm and 5 mm with and without brace respectively (p≥.05). The mean of mediolateral vector of the ground reaction force was 28.17 with and 22.45 without brace and there was no significant difference (p≥.05). In contrast there was a significant difference between the magnitudes of the mediolateral vector of the ground reaction force within pre-and post-brace situations (p=.000). Valgus bracing can reduce the magnitude of the mediolateral vector of the ground reaction force and displacement of the COP in the mediolateral direction. It might be concluded that this method can reduce the pain and instability and improve function in patients with osteoarthritis of the medial compartment of the knee.