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The purpose of this review was to highlight recent research in mechanics and osteoarthritis (OA) by summarizing results from selected studies spanning basic and clinical research methods. Databases were searched from January 2013 through to March 2014. Working in pairs, reviewers selected 67 studies categorized into four themes--mechanobiology, ambulatory mechanics, biomechanical interventions and mechanical risk factors. Novel developments in mechanobiology included the identification of cell signaling pathways that mediated cellular responses to loading of articular cartilage. Studies in ambulatory mechanics included an increased focus on instrumented knee implants and progress in computational models, both emphasizing the importance of muscular contributions to load. Several proposed biomechanical interventions (e.g., shoe insoles and knee braces) produced variable changes in external knee joint moments during walking, while meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials did not support the use of lateral wedge insoles for decreasing pain. Results from high quality randomized trials suggested diet with or without exercise decreased indicators of knee joint load during walking, whereas similar effects from exercise alone were not detected with the measures used. Data from longitudinal cohorts suggested mechanical alignment was a risk factor for incidence and progression of OA, with the mechanism involving damage to the meniscus. In combination, the basic and clinical studies highlight the importance of considering multiple contributors to joint loading that can evoke both protective and damaging responses. Although challenges clearly exist, future studies should strive to integrate basic and clinical research methods to gain a greater understanding of the interactions among mechanical factors in OA and to develop improved preventive and therapeutic strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Long-term morphological changes after acute Achilles tendon rupture (AATR) are unknown. The purpose of the present study was to compare the appearance of the tendon and surrounding musculature in the injured and uninjured contralateral limbs of patients with AATR >10 years post-rupture. Methods: Twenty-one patients (12 male) 15±1 years post-AATR (age: 57±7 years; BMI: 30±4 kg/m²) underwent bilateral 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MAGNETOM Prisma, Siemens). Imaging sequences included: sagittal and axial T1 and T2-weighted turbo spin echo (TSE); axial T1-weighted inversion recovery; and sagittal T2-weighted three-dimensional isotropic TSE. One trained reader (MK) and one experienced musculoskeletal radiologist (AS) measured the maximum antero-posterior tendon width and cross-sectional area (CSA) and calf musculature CSA using distance and area tools within the imaging software (AGFA Healthcare). Results: Dependent t-tests indicated the injured tendon was significantly wider (mean difference [95%CI]: 6 mm [5, 7], p<0.001) and thicker (1 cm² [1, 2], p<0.001). Gastrocnemius medialis (4 cm2 [3, 5], p<0.001), lateralis (3 cm2 [2, 3], p<0.001), and soleus CSA (4 cm2 [2, 6], p=0.001) were significantly smaller in the injured limb. Conclusion: Substantial side-to-side differences in tendon diameter, thickness, and muscle bulk persist at over a decade past injury. Clinical implications: Substantial morphological changes and side-to-side deficits suggest tissue healing and regeneration following AATR is an arduous process that current rehabilitation protocols do not fully ameliorate. Future work is needed to understand the association of structural measures with clinical and functional outcomes, and potential methods to lessen deficits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate trajectories of knee pain and perceived exertion during a neuromuscular exercise (NEMEX) program for patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: Fifty-two participants with knee OA underwent a 12-week NEMEX program. At baseline, patients received instructions for a NEMEX program, consisting of 12 visits with a physiotherapist plus home exercises. We assessed the Measure of Intermittent and Constant Osteoarthritis Pain (ICOAP) pre and post program and measured knee pain (pre, post, max) and the overall rating of perceived exertion (RPE) at each exercise visit. We calculated change in pain (PC; pre to post) and acute pain flare up (PF; pre to max level) for each visit. We evaluated mean changes (with 95%CI) for the ICOAP from pre- to post-program. We performed linear regression to investigate pain trajectory over time, using the group mean of PC for each exercise visit as the outcome and time as the predictor. The analysis was repeated for PF and RPE. Results: Fifty patients (96%) completed the program. Decreases in intermittent [12.2 (95%CI 5.1, 19.3)], constant [14.1 (95%CI 8.0, 20.1)] and total pain [13.2 (95%CI 7.3, 19.1)] over the 12-week program indicated substantial improvements. PC and PF levels decreased over time by 0.07 (95%CI 0.01, 0.12) and 0.07 (95%CI 0.02, 0.12) per exercise visit, respectively. RPE increased over time by 0.24 (95%CI 0.12, 0.34) per exercise visit. Time (i.e. increasing number of exercise sessions) explained 36% of the change in PC level, 42% of the change in PF level and 73% of the change in RPE. Conclusion: Exercise-induced pain decreased while perceived exertion while exercising increased during a 12-week NEMEX program for patients with knee OA. Clinical implications: Patients with knee OA and their therapists should expect that exercise-induced knee pain during a neuromuscular exercise program will decrease progressively over time, enabling gradual increases in exertion and perhaps intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the effect of knee aspiration and intraarticular corticosteroid injection on gait biomechanics and strength in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and active inflammation. Methods: Fifteen patients with knee OA, synovitis and effusion were tested before and 3 weeks after receiving a knee aspiration and triamcinolone injection. All patients' ultrasound (US) exam revealed signs of inflammation that aligned with symptoms. A standard of care knee aspiration and injection was performed under US guidance. Three-dimensional quantitative gait analysis included peak knee angles and moments during walking. Muscular strength testing included isokinetic knee flexion and extension torque at 90 deg/s. Ultrasound, gait and strength tests were completed by the same examiner to reduce variability. Paired t-tests were used to assess changes. Results: Pre minus post mean changes (95% CI) were: peak knee varus angle -0.11 deg (-1.97, 1.76), first peak knee adduction moment (KAM) 0.01 %BW*ht (-0.33, 0.35), second peak KAM -0.05 %BW*ht (-0.49, 0.39), peak knee flexion excursion angle -2.5 deg (-4.50, -0.59), peak knee flexion moment -0.57 %BW*ht (-1.06, -0.68), peak knee extension moment -0.06 %BW*ht (-0.64, 0.52), peak quadriceps strength -6.14 Nm (-16.92, 4.65) and peak hamstring strength -5.59 Nm (-11.14, -0.03). Conclusion: Preliminary results suggest patients undergoing aspiration and injection for knee synovitis and effusion experience increased sagittal plane angles and moments during walking and increased maximal hamstring strength. Clinical implications: Future work will categorize patients as responders and non-responders based on OARSI-OMERACT responder criteria to analyze between group differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Traumatic knee injury is a substantial risk factor for osteoarthritis, with changes in articular cartilage often evident on MRI within 1 year. The purpose of this study was to compare the response to a dynamic loading stimulus, as measured by changes in pain and tibiofemoral cartilage MRI T2 relaxation, in patients with a history of knee injury and healthy controls. Methods: We recruited 10 patients (7 ACL rupture, 2 traumatic meniscal tear, 1 cartilage lesion), and 10 healthy controls. We obtained T2 maps before and after the loading stimulus using 3T MRI. We segmented articular cartilage using 3D Slicer. Following the scan, all participants completed the loading stimulus, consisting of 25 minutes of walking on an instrumented, dualbelt treadmill, including changes in speed, inclines and declines, lateral sways, and random pre-specified perturbations. Patients were asked to report pain on a scale of 0-10 before and after the loading stimulus, as well as rating of perceived exertion (RPE, Borg Scale) at three points throughout. Results: Mean RPE was 11.5±1.6 for patients and 10.4±2.3 for controls (mean difference 1.1, 95%CI -0.8, 3.0). The patients experienced a significant increase in pain (1.5, 95%CI 0.6, 2.4) following the loading stimulus, while all healthy controls reported no pain at all timepoints. T2 decreased by 1.9±1.5 ms in patients and 1.9±1.3 ms in controls (mean difference 0.0, 95%CI -1.3, 1.3). Conclusion: Patients with a history of traumatic knee injury experience significant increases in pain with dynamic loading compared to healthy controls despite similar RPE and cartilage load response. Clinical implications: Clinical guidelines suggest patients who experience knee pain exercise within limits that increase their pain score by no more than 2 points. These results suggest that moderate intensity exercise with changes in pain within those limits causes no additional stress to the articular cartilage compared to healthy controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore mechanisms of mechanoinflammation, we investigated the association between the presence of knee synovial perivascular edema and gait biomechanics that serve as surrogate measures of knee load in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA)., Design: Patients with symptomatic, radiographic knee OA and neutral to varus alignment undergoing total knee arthroplasty or high tibial osteotomy participated in this cross-sectional analysis. All participants underwent 3D gait analysis prior to surgery. Synovial biopsies were obtained during surgery for histopathological assessment. The association between the presence of synovial perivascular edema (predictor) and the external knee moment (outcome) in each orthogonal plane was analyzed using multivariate linear regression and polynomial mixed effects regression models, while adjusting for age, sex, BMI, and gait speed., Results: Ninety-two patients with complete gait and histopathological data were included. When fitted over 100% of stance, regression models indicated substantial differences between patients with and without synovial perivascular edema for knee moments in frontal, sagittal and transverse planes. The knee adduction moment was higher in patients with edema from 16 to 74% of stance, with the largest difference at 33% of stance (β = 6.87 Nm [95%CI 3.02, 10.72]); whereas the knee flexion-extension moment differed from 15 to 92% of stance, with the largest difference in extension at 60% of stance (β = -10.80 Nm [95%CI -16.20, -5.40])., Conclusions: In patients with knee OA, the presence of synovial perivascular edema identified by histopathology is associated with aberrant patterns of knee loading throughout stance, supporting the link between biomechanics and synovial inflammation., (Copyright © 2021 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Although mechanically-induced inflammation is an appealing explanation linking different etiologic factors in osteoarthritis (OA), clinical research investigating changes in both biomechanics and joint inflammation is limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between change in surrogate measures of knee load and knee effusion-synovitis in patients with medial compartment knee OA undergoing high tibial osteotomy (HTO)., Methods: Thirty-six patients with medial compartment knee OA and varus alignment underwent 3D gait analysis and 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) preoperatively and 1 year after medial opening wedge HTO. Primary outcome measures were the change in the external knee adduction moment impulse during walking and change in knee suprapatellar effusion-synovitis volume manually segmented on MRI by one blinded assessor., Results: Mean (SD) knee adduction moment impulse [24.0 (6.5) Nm•s] and knee effusion-synovitis volume [8976.7 (8016.9) mm 3 ] suggested substantial preoperative medial knee load and inflammation. 1-year postoperative changes in knee adduction moment impulse [-10.1 Nm•s (95%CI: -12.7, -7.4)], and knee effusion-synovitis volume [-1856 mm 3 (95%CI: -3830, 117)] were positively correlated [r = 0.60 (95% CI 0.34, 0.78)]. Simple linear regression suggested a 448 mm 3 (95%CI: 241, 656) reduction in knee effusion-synovitis volume per 1 Nm•s reduction in knee adduction moment impulse. Change in knee adduction moment impulse explained 36% (R 2  = 0.36) of the variance of change in knee effusion-synovitis volume., Conclusions: Reduction in medial knee load is positively associated with reduction in knee inflammation after HTO, suggesting the phenomenon of mechano-inflammation in patients with knee OA., (Copyright © 2020 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Exercise programs rely on the overload principle, yet patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) may not adequately progress exercises due to fear of exacerbating symptoms., Objective: To describe trajectories for perceived exertion and exercise-induced knee pain during a neuromuscular exercise program for patients with knee OA., Design: Participants with knee OA completed a 12-week neuromuscular exercise program consisting of weekly supervised sessions plus home exercises. During each supervised session, the Borg's rating of perceived exertion (RPE; 6 = no exertion, 20 = maximal exertion) and knee pain (pre, post, max) using Numeric Rating Scales (NRS; 0 = no pain, 10 = worst imaginable pain) were completed. Mean changes in RPE and pain from weeks 1-12 were calculated. Mixed effects regression was used to investigate trajectories over time (weeks) for RPE, and maximum pain (pre-to-max) and pain-change (pre-to-post) during exercise., Results: 56 patients (95%) completed the program. From week 1-12, RPE increased by 2.6 (95%CI, 1.7 to 3.5), from 'somewhat hard' to 'very hard', while max pain decreased by 1.0 NRS (95%CI, 0.5 to 1.3) and pain-change decreased by 0.9 NRS (95%CI, 0.4 to 1.3). Linear mixed effects regression showed a quadratic increase for RPE over time until between weeks 9 and 10, then RPE plateaued. Maximum pain decreased linearly over time. Pain-change showed a quadratic decrease over time until approximately week 9, then pain-change plateaued., Conclusions: In patients with knee OA participating in a 12-week neuromuscular exercise program, perceived exertion during exercise progressed from 'somewhat hard' to 'very hard' at 9 weeks, while exercise-induced knee pain decreased. Patients were able to work harder while experiencing decreases rather than increases in pain., (Copyright © 2020 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Despite the recognized importance of neuromuscular exercises, there is currently no widely accepted clinical outcome measure focused on neuromuscular control for patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). The purposes of the present study were to investigate the test-retest reliability, concurrent validity and longitudinal validity of the star excursion balance test (SEBT) in patients with knee OA., Design: 74 patients performed the SEBT on two sessions within 7 days, and on a third session after completing 12 weeks of a home exercise program focused on neuromuscular control. A subgroup of 37 performed the SEBT while in the field of view of a motion capture system to estimate concurrent validity. The SEBT was recorded in cm and also normalized to leg length (LL). Participants also completed the 40 m fast-paced walk test and patient-reported outcomes before and after the exercise program., Results: Intraclass correlation coefficients (95% confidence intervals) were 0.94 (0.91 to 0.96) and 0.93 (0.89 to 0.96) and standard errors of measurement were ±2.68 cm and ±3.05%LL for raw and normalized composite scores, respectively. The minimum detectable change at the 95% confidence level for the composite score was 7.44 cm and 8.45%LL. Correlations between observer and motion capture measures were very high (Pearson r > 0.96). There was a significant increase in SEBT following the exercise program (standardized response mean = 0.74). The change in SEBT had low correlations with changes in 40 m walk times (r = 0.26) and pain (r = 0.28)., Conclusion: The SEBT has suitable measurement properties for use in patients with knee OA., (Copyright © 2019 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Population-based cohort studies suggest an association between osteoarthritis (OA) and cerebrovascular disease, yet the mechanisms underlying vascular comorbidities in OA remain unclear. The purpose of this narrative review is to discuss the literature examining inflammation in OA with a focus on physiological mechanisms, and whether overlapping mechanisms exist in cerebrovascular dysfunction., Method: A literature search was conducted in PubMed using combinations of search terms: osteoarthritis, cerebrovascular (disease/dysfunction/risk), cardiovascular (disease/dysfunction/risk), aging/ageing, inflammation, inflammatory mediators, cytokine, c-reactive protein, interleukin, advanced glycation end-products, metabolic syndrome, reactive oxidative species, cognitive impairment, (vascular-related) dementia, small cerebral vessel disease, endothelial function, blood-brain barrier, gender/sex, hypertension, peripheral vascular health, and physical activity. Reference lists of identified articles were also researched manually., Results: Overlapping inflammatory factors that may contribute to onset and progression of both OA and cerebrovascular dysfunction are presented. We describe oxidative mechanisms involving pro-inflammatory cytokines and oxidative species, advanced glycation end-products, sex hormones, microvascular dysfunction and osteoprotegerin, and their specific roles in potentially contributing to OA and cerebrovascular dysfunction., Conclusion: Synthesis of the current literature suggests future investigations may benefit from directly testing cerebrovascular hemodynamics and cognitive function in individuals with or at risk of OA to elucidate common physiological mechanisms., (Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To evaluate 5-year outcomes after lower limb realignment and test the hypothesis that surgery-induced changes in selected biomechanical risk factors for medial knee osteoarthritis (OA) are associated with clinically important improvements., Design: We prospectively evaluated patient-reported outcomes, full-limb standing radiographs and gait biomechanics before, 6 months (surgery-induced change) and 5 years after medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy (HTO) in 170 patients (46.4 ± 8.9 years, 135 males) with knee OA and varus alignment. Logistic regression tested the associations of 6-month changes in mechanical axis angle and knee adduction moment with achieving an increase of ≥10 points in the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS)4 at 5 years, with and without adjusting for covariates. Gait data were also compared to existing data from healthy controls., Results: Mean 5-year changes (95% confidence interval (CI)) were: KOOS4: +14.2 (10.8, 17.6); mechanical axis angle: +8.21° (7.58, 8.83); knee adduction moment: -1.49 %BW*Ht (-1.35, -1.63). The postoperative knee adduction moments were typically lower than values for healthy controls. When divided into quartiles, although all strata improved significantly, patients with reductions in knee adduction moment of 1.14-1.74 %BW*Ht (neither largest nor smallest changes) had highest 5-year KOOS4 scores. The 6-month change in knee adduction moment (odds ratios (OR) = 0.38; 95% CI: 0.22, 0.67), preoperative KOOS4 (OR = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.94, 0.99) and preoperative medial tibiofemoral narrowing grade (OR = 0.62; 95% CI: 0.37, 1.00) were negatively associated with having a 5-year clinically important improvement (C-statistic = 0.70)., Conclusions: Substantial improvements in biomechanical risk factors and patient-reported outcomes are observed 5 years after medial opening wedge HTO. The surgery-induced change in load distribution during walking is significantly associated with long-term clinically important improvement., (Copyright © 2017 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

To review and synthesize the biomechanical effects of valgus knee bracing for patients with medial knee osteoarthritis (OA). Electronic databases were searched from their inception to May 2014. Two reviewers independently determined study eligibility, rated study quality and extracted data. Where possible, data were combined into meta-analyses and pooled estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for standardized mean differences (SMD) were calculated. Thirty studies were included with 478 subjects tested while using a valgus knee brace. Various biomechanical methods suggested valgus braces can decrease direct measures of medial knee compressive force, indirect measures representing the mediolateral distribution of load across the knee, quadriceps/hamstring and quadriceps/gastrocnemius co-contraction ratios, and increase medial joint space during gait. Meta-analysis from 17 studies suggested a statistically significant decrease in the external knee adduction moment (KAM) during walking, with a moderate-to-high effect size (SMD = 0.61; 95% CI: 0.39, 0.83; P < 0.001). Meta-regression identified a near-significant association for the KAM effect size and duration of brace use only (β, -0.01; 95% CI: -0.03, 0.0001; P = 0.06); with longer durations of brace use associated with smaller treatment effects. Minor complications were commonly reported during brace use and included slipping, discomfort and poor fit, blisters and skin irritation. Systematic review and meta-analysis suggests valgus knee braces can alter knee joint loads through a combination of mechanisms, with moderate-to-high effect sizes in biomechanical outcomes., (Copyright © 2014 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: (1) Test the hypothesis that walking poles decrease the external knee adduction moment during gait in patients with varus gonarthrosis, and (2) explore potential mechanisms., Design: Thirty-four patients with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis (OA) and varus alignment underwent three dimensional (3D) gait analysis with and without using walking poles. Conditions were randomized and walking speed was maintained ±5% of the self-selected speed of the initial condition. The pole held in the hand of the unaffected side was instrumented with a compression load cell., Results: Student's t tests for paired samples indicated small but statistically significant increases (P < 0.001) in knee adduction moment (calculated from inverse dynamics) for its first peak, second peak and angular impulse when using the poles; mean increases (95% confidence interval - CI) were 0.17%BW*Ht (0.08, 0.27), 0.17%BW*Ht (0.04, 0.30) and 0.15%BW*Ht*s (0.09, 0.22), respectively. There was a decrease (P = 0.015) in vertical ground reaction force (-0.02 BW (-0.04, -0.01)), yet increase (P < 0.001) in its frontal plane lever arm about the knee (0.30 cm (0.15, 0.44)), at the time of the first peak knee adduction moment. Pole force in the vertical direction was inversely related (r = -0.34, P = 0.05) to the increase in first peak adduction moment., Conclusion: Although results are variable among patients, and may be related to individual technique, these overall findings suggest that walking poles do not decrease knee adduction moments, and therefore likely do not decrease medial compartment loads, in patients with varus gonarthrosis. Decreases in knee joint loading should not be used as rationale for walking pole use in these patients., (Copyright © 2012 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To examine the interaction and relative contributions of frontal plane alignment and body mass on dynamic knee joint loading in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA)., Methods: We completed three-dimensional gait analyses and hip-to-ankle standing anteroposterior radiographs on 487 patients with knee OA referred to a tertiary care center specializing in orthopaedics., Results: Using sequential (hierarchical) linear regression, the interaction term (mechanical axis anglexmass) contributed significantly (P<0.001) to a model (total adjusted R(2)=0.70) predicting the external knee adduction moment, that included mechanical axis angle (R(2)=0.37) and mass (R(2)=0.06) while controlling for age, sex, height, Kellgren and Lawrence grade, pain score during walking, gait speed, toe out angle and trunk lean (R(2)=0.25). When the sample was split into tertiles for mass, mechanical axis angle accounted for 32-54% of explained variance in knee adduction moment. In the tertile with greatest mass, results suggest a 3.2 N m increase in knee load for every 1 degrees increase in varus alignment. When split into tertiles for mechanical axis angle, mass accounted for 6-10% of explained variance in the knee adduction moment. In the tertile with the most varus alignment, results suggest a 0.4 N m increase in knee load for every 1 kg increase in mass., Conclusion: Our findings describe the interaction between alignment and body mass on dynamic knee joint loading, with the association between alignment and load highest in patients with the highest mass. Our findings also emphasize the role of malalignment on knee load at all levels of mass, and have implications for better understanding risk factors and intervention strategies for knee OA., (Copyright 2010 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To test the hypothesis that selected gait kinematics, particularly lateral trunk lean, observed in patients with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis explain variation in dynamic knee joint load., Method: In this cross-sectional observational study, 120 patients with radiographically confirmed varus gonarthrosis underwent three-dimensional gait analysis at their typical walking speed. We used sequential (hierarchical) linear regression to examine the amount of variance in dynamic knee joint load (external knee adduction moment) explained by static lower limb alignment (mechanical axis angle) and gait kinematics determined a priori based on their proposed effect on knee load (walking speed, toe-out angle, and lateral trunk lean angle)., Results: Approximately 50% of the variation in the first peak external knee adduction moment was explained by mechanical axis angle (25%), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index pain score (1%), gait speed (1%), toe-out angle (12%), and lateral trunk lean angle (13%). There was no confounding or interaction with Kellgren and Lawrence grade of severity., Conclusions: Gait kinematics, particularly lateral trunk lean, explain substantial variation in dynamic knee joint load in patients with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis. While largely ignored in previous gait studies, the effect of lateral trunk lean should be considered in future research evaluating risk factors and interventions for progression of knee osteoarthritis.

Purpose: To evaluate the effects an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) brace has on various measures of knee proprioception and postural control., Methods: Thirty subjects (mean age 27 +/- 11 yr) having undergone unilateral ACL reconstruction were tested with and without wearing their own custom-fit brace on their involved limb. Proprioception was assessed using joint angle replication tests completed on an isokinetic dynamometer. Postural control was assessed using a series of single-limb standing balance tests completed on a force platform. The balance tests included: 1) standing on the stable platform with eyes open, 2) standing on a foam mat placed over the platform with eyes open, 3) standing on the platform with eyes closed, and 4) standing on the platform after landing from a maximal single-limb forward hop., Results: The brace provided a small but statistically significant improvement in proprioception (mean reduction in error scores between target and reproduced angles = 0.64 +/- 1.4 degrees, P = 0.02). For the postural control tests, there was a significant brace condition by test situation interaction (P = 0.02), with the brace providing a small but statistically significant improvement during the test completed on the stable platform with eyes open (mean reduction in center of pressure path length = 4.2 +/- 8.4 cm, P = 0.02) but not during the other more challenging test situations. Additional post hoc analyses indicated that the relationship between knee proprioception and postural control measures were low and not significant (r = 0.003 to 0.19, P > 0.32), consistent with the suggestion that changes in knee proprioception can occur in the absence of substantial changes in postural control. Also, standing balance tests that challenged the somatosensory contribution to postural control (i.e., those completed on foam, or with eyes closed) were significantly related to single-limb forward hop distances (r = -0.4, P < 0.05), whereas performance during the proprioception test was not (r = 0.1, P > 0.50)., Conclusions: In general, bracing appears to improve performance during tasks characterized by relatively limited somatosensory input but not during tasks characterized by increased somatosenory input. The small magnitude of the improvements, coupled with their apparent lack of carry over to more difficult and functionally relevant tasks, questions the clinical benefit of the present effects of bracing.

Purpose: Objectives of this study were to examine the perceived sense of knee joint position during selected test situations, and to evaluate the proposed kinesthetic effect of a neoprene knee sleeve during these test situations., Methods: Fifty-nine young healthy subjects (39 females and 20 males) attempted to replicate target knee joint angles using active and passive knee extension movements completed in sitting (nonaxially loaded) situations, and during active knee extension movements completed in supine while applying a load of 15% body weight through the long axis of the tibia (axially loaded). The criterion measure used was the absolute difference between target and reproduced angles, averaged over five attempts (Average absolute difference: AAD)., Results: A three-way ANOVA (two genders by three test situations by two sleeve conditions), with repeated measures on the last two factors, indicated a significant main effect for test situation and sleeve condition (P < 0.05), but not for gender. There was also a significant test situation by sleeve condition interaction (P < 0.05). Post-hoc analysis indicated that the AAD score during the active nonaxially loaded test situation without the sleeve was significantly greater than AAD scores for all other tests (P < 0.01)., Conclusions: Pre-existing differences in knee joint kinesthesis observed during different contexts of limb movement must be recognized before various interventions, including the effect of knee supports, can be adequately interpreted. Because knee joint position sense was attenuated during voluntary active movement, and because this attenuation was ameliorated by the use of a sleeve, future studies evaluating the kinesthetic effects of knee bracing may benefit from using active movements. However, since the sleeve did not affect performance during the axially loaded test situation, future studies should also evaluate the relationship between tests of knee joint kinesthesis and other more functional tests of neuromuscular performance.