Relative position analysis of the femur and tibia by load-unload at the knee OA

Abstract

The abnormal motion of lateral thrust (LT) in osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is mainly examined in relation to gait analysis and muscle strength as a factor in OA progression. In this study, we evaluated the relative position change between the femur and tibia in the coronal plane between the non-weight-bearing position and the weight-bearing position in 15 women with non-OA and advanced OA. Comparing non-OA and OA, the medial articular surface of the tibia was positioned closer to the femoral articular surface due to loading, and the tibia was positioned lateral to the femur. The movement to the lateral side was greater in OA than in non-OA. It was suggested that the LT of knee OA can be evaluated as the relative positional movement of the tibia around the medial femoral joint contact point, in which the unbalanced load on the proximal medial joint surface of the tibia is repositioned in the direction of the leveling of the load surface.