A RANDOMIZED TRIAL OF REALIGNMENT THERAPY FOR TREATMENT OF MEDIAL KNEE ARTHRITIS

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The medial compartment absorbs 60-70% of the force across the knee during weight bearing and, in part, because it is subjected to more stress than the lateral compartment, osteoarthritis affects the medial tibiofemoral compartment much more often than the lateral one in both men and women. Since involvement of this compartment is especially frequent, interventions whose goal is to realign the knee so as to reduce transarticular loading on the medical compartment, such as valgus bracing are sometimes used clinically. Despite knowing for many years that altering loads in patients with knee OA may be a safe, inexpensive and an effective modality of treatment, there have been few studies that have evaluated these therapies, and these studies are either small or have other methodologic limitations. The overall objective of this 3-year project is to determine whether the provision of realignment therapy in patients with medial knee OA relieves knee pain and improves function. We will test the hypothesis that compared to control treatment, the use of realignment therapy (valgus knee brace + motion control shoes + orthosis) is effective in medial knee OA. The specific aims are: a. To undertake a 16-week, randomized crossover clinical trial in patients with medial knee osteoarthritis to determine whether provision of realignment therapy leads to lower pain scores and improved function during the time of this treatment than during the use of a placebo treatment; b. To perform an open label follow-up study to track use and effectiveness of treatment. This project will be co-funded by Generation II, a knee bracing company.