The correlation between osteoarthritis stage and the effect of the lateral wedge insole for 3 months on medial meniscus extrusion in the knee joint

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BackgroundMedial meniscus extrusion (MME) leads to symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) due to increased mechanical stress. MME increases with weight-bearing, and the difference in MME between non-weight-bearing and weight-bearing status (ΔMME) is a factor that causes greater MME. The lateral wedge insole (LWI) is an ideal approach for decreasing the amount of ΔMME associated with the reduction of medial loading stress in the early stage of knee OA. However, the effect of the LWI for 3 months on the ΔMME and its response to OA stage have not been elucidated. ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of the LWI for 3 months on MME and the ΔMME in each stage of OA. MethodsParticipants were divided into three groups: no intervention with the LWI (control group; n = 9) and intervention with the LWI in early OA (early OA group: Kellgren–Lawrence (K/L) stage = 2, n = 17) and late OA (late OA group: K/L stage > 2, n = 13). MME was evaluated using ultrasound, and the ΔMME was obtained as the difference in MME from non-weight-bearing and weight-bearing conditions. These measurements were performed at two time points: the initial office visit as a baseline and post-3 months. ResultsThe weight-bearing MME and ΔMME values post-3 months were significantly decreased compared with those at baseline in the early OA group but not in the control or late OA groups. ConclusionsThe use of the LWI for 3 months decreased weight-bearing MME and ΔMME values, and its effectiveness was more pronounced in the early stage of knee OA.