A small integrated lateral wedge does not alter knee joint moments during walking

Abstract

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common degenerative disorders. Recently, it has been proposed that lateral wedged footwear could play a preventative role by reducing the frontal plane knee joint moments during walking. However, these interventions can be uncomfortable, so it is important to determine whether minimal wedging can still have a positive influence. The aim of this study was to test the influence of a 2° full-length lateral wedge on frontal plane knee joint internal moments during walking. It was hypothesized that the lateral wedge would shift the centre of pressure (COP) laterally and decrease the knee abduction moment. Joint kinematics, joint kinetics and the COP trajectory of 15 healthy subjects (seven males and eight females) were obtained when the subjects walked at 1.4 m s−1 with a Control shoe and a Lateral Wedge shoe (2° wedge). The results of this study showed no difference between the Lateral Wedge and the Control shoe condition in the internal peak knee abduction moment and the position of the COP. This suggests that a 2° wedge is not sufficient to influence the position of the COP nor to decrease the internal knee abduction moment.