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Background and aim: The great amount of load tolerated by the knee joint during daily activities has made this joint the most vulnerable joint to osteoarthritis. Different types of knee orthosis are prescribed for treatment and among them neopran and 3 pressure points orthosis are the most common ones. Although these orthosis are used widely, little is known about their effects on the relief of patient's symptoms. In this study the immediate effects of two "4 spring-loaded neopran" and "3 pressure points corrective" knee orthosis on the pain reduction and functional improvement of the patients suffering from medial compartment knee orthosis were compared.

 Materials and methods: Twenty patients (age 53±12) with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis, with severity of less than grade 4 (based on the Kellgren & Lowrence grading method and diagnosis of an orthopedist) and tibiofemoral angle of above 180º were recruited. The functional performance was assessed by 6 min walking test in the first day without orthosis and in the 2^nd and 3^rd day immediately after wearing one of the orthosis in random order. The intensity of pain was evaluated by 100 mm VAS test in the first day before and after 6 min walking test and in the 2^nd and 3^rd day only after the walking test.

 Results: Both orthosis induced a significant reduction in patient's pain (p<0.01) and improvement in functional capacity (p<0.01). the comparison between the two orthosis regarding the pain reduction after the walking test revealed the dominance of the 3 pressure points corrective orthosis (p<0.007). The difference between the functional improvements of two knee orthosis was statistically not significant (average increase in walking distance of 15 m and 24 meters for neopran and 3 pressure point orthosis).

 Conclusion: The 3 pressure point and neopran knee orthosis can induce significant reduction in pain and improvement in the functional capacity of the patients with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis. The 3 pressure point orthosis seems to dominate the neopran in pain reduction and functional improvement (however not statistically significant).

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Background and aim: Knee osteoarthritis is one of the most common musculoskeletal problems, can affect on patient's daily activity and produce dependency in their daily activity and functional disability The aim of present study is to compare static balance in patients with knee osteoarthritis and healthy subjects using force plate. 

Materials & Methods: Postural stability in knee OA patients and healthy subjects (each group 20 subjects) were measured by force plate. Two positions were selected double stance with closed or opened eyes. Range of fore/aft (Rfa) and Range of side ways (Rsw), were measured as static postural stability.

Results: Rsw increased significantly in the double stance position in patients group (P<0.05). Also in both groups, Rsw and Rfa in the double stance with closed eyes were more than of open eyes position (P<0.05).

Conclusion: Postural control deficits and increase of center of pressure's sway were identified in participants with knee osteoarthritis. Therefore, one of the most important goals of rehabilitation is to improve balance control in knee OA patients.

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Background and Aim: The effects of lateral wedge insole with and without sub-talar strap on pain, arthritic symptoms, functional performance, sports and recreational activities, and knee related quality of life in patients with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis were compared.

Materials and Methods: Community-dwelling men and women aged over 40 years with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis, grades I or II based on Kellgrene and Lawrence grading system were participated in this study. They were randomly allocated in two different groups lateral wedge insole with and without sub-talar strap. Both groups were required to wear the insoles at home for the duration of four weeks, approximately 5 to 10 hours per day. Participants were asked to complete the Farsi version of Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) questionnaire at baseline and at follow-up. The reliability of KOOS for measuring short term and long term symptoms and function in Iranian patients with knee injuries and osteoarthritis has been reported previously.

Results: The changes in KOOS subscales were significantly different in both groups over time. Contrary to our hypothesis, the interaction effect was significant between the two groups following our intervention in terms of symptoms, daily living functions, sports and recreational activities, and knee related quality of life, unless pain score. 

Conclusion: The result of this study suggests that both of the insoles improved pain, symptoms, function in daily living, sports and recreation activities and knee related quality of life in patients with mild medial compartment knee osteoarthritis. However, use of sub-talar strap with lateral wedge insole would be the better prescription for insoles in these patients. 

 

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Background and Aim: Knee osteoarthritis is one of the most common musculoskeletal problems that can affect activity daily living of patients. Many studies have indicated postural control deficits in these patients but the effect of dual tasking on postural control has not been examined yet. The aim of this study is to investigat the effect of cognitive task on postural control in the female patients with knee osteoarthritis.
Materials and Methods: Postural stability in knee OA patients and healthy subjects (20 subjects in each group ) in four positions was measured using the Force plate. Positions included double leg stance with closed or opened eyes with and without cognitive task. Area of COP and mean velocity (Vm) were measured for as static postural stability.
Results: Area under the curve increased in the double leg stance position in the patients significantly (P<0.05). While mean velocity decreased by performing a dual task (P<0.05). The response to dual-tasking was not significant between the 2 groups(P>0.05).
Conclusion: Postural control deficits and increased of center of pressure’s sway were identified in participants with Knee osteoarthritis. Also performance of a cognitive task resulted in decrease of postural sway, but the dual- tasking did not change the postural performance of knee OA patients compared to healthy subjects.

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Background and Aim: Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease in adults around the world and plays a great role in inducing disability in elderly. Patients suffering from severe knee osteoarthritis usually complain of pain and severe functional disability. For these patients, conservative treatments are often induces least remedy for pain and improvement of functional ability. This study evaluates the effects of knee mechanical traction on pain, edema, range of movement and functional ability in patients with severe knee osteoarthritis.

Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial, forty women with severe knee OA (grade 3 & 4 on the Kellgren-Lawrence grading scale) were recruited and randomly divided into two groups with different treatment protocols (common physiotherapy treatment and common physiotherapy treatment accompanied by knee traction). Functional capacity and level of pain were assessed by 6-minute walking test and visual analog scale respectively. A goniometer was used to measure knee range of movement and edema was also evaluated by use of measuring tape.

 Results: Common physiotherapy treatment accompanied by knee traction compared to common physiotherapy treatment leads to significant decrease in pain (P<0.01) and increase in functional capacity (P<0.05).

Conclusion: Common physiotherapy treatment accompanied by knee traction is a more effective treatment than common physiotherapy procedure in patients with severe knee osteoarthritis.

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Background and Aim: Knee osteoarthritis is one of the most common musculo-skeletal problems and can effect on patient's daily activity and produce dependency in their daily activity and functional disability such as including the balance of these patients. Therefore, the aim of this research is to investigate the effect of a period of therapeutic exercise and detraining after that on balance in the women with knee OA.

 

Materials and Methods: This research was a semi-empirical and applied on 24 inactive female patients with osteoarthritis of the knee with a physician's diagnosis and entering in Research. Subjects randomly classified into two groups, the therapeutic exercise and control. The Biodex Balance machine was used to determine static and dynamic balance in patients with pre-test and post-test in order to stabilize the situation and jeopardize. After pre-test in order to evaluate the durability of training, the tests were repeated after one months of detraining experimental group subjects. The therapeutic exercise protocols executed on subjects over 20 sessions (4 weeks and duration of each session about 60 minutes). During this time, the control group did not do any practice. The raw data was analyzed by SPSS version19. Friedman test and wilcoxon were used.

 

Results: Application of one course of treatment on the static balance: the overall stability and also dynamic balance of women with knee OA was significantly affected of (P &le; 0/05). Also, one month detraining after of the training period showed lasting improvement of balance (static-dynamic).

 

Conclusion: Based on the results of the present research, execution of period of 4 weeks in therapeutic exercise can significantly effect on balance improvement in women with knee OA. This change will be stable after one month of detraining. Therefore, therapeutic exercise even in a short period of 4 weeks can be advised to be effective way to cure and improve balance in patients.

Key words: Therapeutic Exercise, Detraining, Balance, Knee Osteoarthritis