Lateral wedges - a crossover study
NORMAL KNEE
OSTEOARTHRITIS
Femur
Bone Spur
Ligament
Cartilage
Medial
Meniscus
Degenerated
Meniscus
Degenerated
Cartilage
Lateral
Meniscus
Fibula
Tibia
"An examination of data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative showed that
25% of individuals with painful knee OA concurrently report foot pain,
and that the presence of foot pain adversely affected overall health
and function."
knee OA research has been a failure to consider
participants’ foot morphology in the study
design and delivery of treatment. In clinical
practice, pronated feet are typically managed
with some form of medial arch support [15, 16],
and while some research shows that beneficial
changes in ankle kinematics [17] and foot
pain [18, 19] may be obtained with this clinical
approach in people with pronated feet, the
evidence in this area is sparse [20]. However,
there is potential that a combination of lateral
wedges and arch supports may be beneficial for
people with painful knee OA and pronated feet
[21].
Given the apparent strong link between
pronated foot type and disease characteristics
specific to medial compartment knee OA, and
that biomechanical interventions such as lateral
wedges are advocated in clinical guidelines
for the use of conservative treatments for knee
OA in general [22], a better understanding
of the clinical effects of shoe-worn insole
treatment for in this specific subgroup of knee
OA is warranted. Therefore, the purpose of
the present exploratory randomized crossover
study was to compare clinical effects (knee
and foot symptoms) of lateral wedges alone
to insoles that combined lateral wedging with
customized arch support in people with medial
Current Pedorthics | January/February 2019
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