Current Pedorthics | January-February 2019 | Vol.51, Issue 1 | Page 26

Lateral wedges - a crossover study "A commonly studied conservative treatment approach for knee OA is shoe-worn insoles, in particular insoles that are built up along the lateral edge (lateral wedges)." The randomization schedule was produced before study commencement by a researcher not involved with data collection or analysis. Random permuted blocks of 4 or 6 were developed and randomization codes were sealed in consecutively numbered, opaque envelopes that were opened after baseline testing for each participant. To prevent cross-contamination of insole wear, the unused pair (in the case of active treatment periods), or both pairs (in the case of the wash-out period) of insoles were kept onsite at the University. Further, the participants were unaware of the study hypotheses as well as the justification for the 24 Pedorthic Footcare Association | www.pedorthics.org design of the insoles. Both pairs were provided to participants upon study completion. INTERVENTIONS For both types of insoles, polypropylene sheets of 34 mm thickness were vacuum formed or milled directly to produce a sulcus length insole. For both conditions, the lateral wedges consisted of a 5-degree ethyl-vinyl acetone (EVA) (Shore A hardness of 55) sulcus-length posting. For the lateral wedges plus arch support insole, the same lateral wedges were used in combination with a custom arch support across the foot to match the negative of the volumetric cast. Both insoles (Fig. 1) were finished with the same neoprene cover and modified as necessary to maximize comfort and fit. Participants were instructed to wear the insoles as much as possible and no other instructions regarding the intervention were provided. from:https://www.braceability.com/products/medial-lateral-heel-wedges (month 2). After a two-month washout period of no insole wear, participants were re-assessed again (month 4) and then underwent a second two-month period of intervention with the alternate insole condition, after which they were re-assessed for the final time (month 6).