The effects of body weight unloading on hip and knee biomechanical parameters during overground walking

Abstract

s / Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 22 (2014) S57–S489 S115 (Nm/BW*HT%): peak KAM, KAM impulse (i.e. the positive area under the KAM-time curve) and peak knee flexion moment. All motion data were collected barefoot during gait at patients’ self-selected walking speed. Variables were calculated for each trial, then averaged over five trials. At the follow-up patients were instructed to walk with the same speed, allowingamarginof 5%. Paired t-testswereused to test fordifferences in the change of knee joint loading indices between operated and control legs frombeforeAPMMto the3month follow-upand toevaluatepotential differences between the operated and control legs at the baseline. Results: Frompre surgery to 3month post APMM, therewas a significantly larger increase in KAM impulse in the operated leg compared with the control leg (p 1⁄4 0.03). A tendency towards a larger increase in peak KAM was also observed in the operated comparedwith the control leg (p1⁄4 0.10) (Table 1). Loading indices were generally higher in the control knee compared to the leg undergoing APMM prior to surgery, even though this only approached statistical significance for peak knee flexion moment (peak KAM, p 1⁄4 0.29; KAM impulse, p 1⁄4 0.14; peak flexion moment, p 1⁄4 0.06). Conclusions: Our preliminary data indicate that knee joint loading indices increasewithin thefirst 3months postmedial APMMcompared to the non-operated contralateral knee.Whether this is influenced bychanges in pain status or is a result of APMM per se warrants further investigation.