Bracing for osteoarthritis

Bracing for knee osteoarthritis: translating evidence into practice.

Efficacy of Unloader Bracing in Reducing Symptoms of Knee Osteoarthritis.

Braces designed to unload the more diseased compartment of the knee have been used to provide symptomatic relief from osteoarthritis (OA). Research on the efficacy of these braces is needed. Thirty-one patients with knee OA were randomized to receive an unloader brace (n = 16) or not to receive a brace (control group, n = 15). Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcomes Score (KOOS) and visual anal...

Knee bracing for medial compartment osteoarthritis: effects on proprioception and postural control.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of a functional knee brace specifically designed for patients with varus gonarthrosis on measures of proprioception and postural control. SUBJECTS Fourteen men and six women (aged 59+/-9 yr) with measurable varus alignment and osteoarthritis of the knee medial compartment. METHODS Proprioception was assessed in the sitting position using an isokinetic dynam...

A randomized trial of patellofemoral bracing for treatment of patellofemoral osteoarthritis.

PURPOSE The number of effective knee osteoarthritis (OA) interventions, especially those tailored to specific compartmental involvement, are small. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of a realigning patellofemoral (PF) brace in improving pain and function among persons with symptomatic lateral PF OA. METHOD We conducted a double blind, randomized crossover trial of a re...

Image-Guided Hyaluronic Acid Injection and Knee Bracing Significantly Improve Clinical Outcomes for High-Grade Osteoarthritis

BACKGROUND Intra-articular hyaluronic acid (HA) injection is an intermediate option between analgesics and knee joint replacement in patients with osteoarthritis (OA). Our objective was to test whether image-guided HA injections may improve knee OA outcomes after 6 months of treatment independent of potential covariates. METHODS This is a retrospective case series with multivariate outcome-ba...