Additional Effects of Medial Wedge Insole Coupled with Conventional Therapy in Patients with Bilateral Lateral Compartmental Knee Osteoarthritis: A Clinical Trial Study

Abstract

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent disorder of the locomotor system, and involves the largeweight bearing joints of the lower limb such as knee joint. The progression of OA knee is typically affected bymechanical stress created by varus and valgus malalignment, which in turn overloads the medial and lateralcompartments, respectively. The rationale of wedged insoles is to transfer the load from the affected kneecompartment to the joint contralateral compartment. So, the aim of the study was to compare the effectiveness ofconventional therapy plus medial wedge insole in the footwear and conventional therapy alone on pain, physicalfunction and alignment in lateral compartmental knee osteoarthritic patients.Method: Study included 30 patients with bilateral lateral compartmental knee OA, aged 40-60 years anddivided into 2 groups: Group A received conventional therapy plus medial wedge insole and Group B receivedconventional therapy alone for 6 weeks (3 sets of 10 repetitions daily). Inter-group analysis by unpaired t-testshowed statistically significant improvement in Lequesne index score and tibiofemoral angle (P value ≤ 0.05).Conclusion: In patients with lateral compartmental knee OA, conventional therapy plus medial wedge insole weremore effective than conventional therapy alone in reducing pain, improving functional disability and tibiofemoralangle.