The effect of use of spinal orthosis with joints providing resistive force on performance tests in the elderly and patients after TKA

Abstract

It is well known that the elderly and patients after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) present with postural change caused by aging, namely lumbar kyphosis and pelvic backward tilt. These postural changes have the potential to decrease balance and gait ability and therefore to increase the risk of falling. To resolve this problem, we developed a newly designed spinal orthosis, Trunk Solution (TS), with joints providing resistive force ; the orthosis has functions to increase pelvic forward tilt and to increase the activity of abdominal muscles. The purpose of this study is to show the effect of TS on gait and balance ability of the elderly and patients after TKA by a performance test. As the results, 5m walking time of both the elderly and patients after TKA significantly decreased and one leg standing time of some elderly subjects significantly increased in after TS removal compared to before wearing TS. Use of TS can enhance gait and balance ability of the elderly and patients after TKA and therefore the orthosis might be useful for fall prevention.