Knee Joint Thrust During the Early Stance Pahse of Gait Cycle

This paper is performed to evaluate with the knee joint motion of the active flexion (without weight bearing motion) and of the early stance phase during gait cycle (with weight bearing motion) by using a three-dimensional knee motion analysis system and the biomechanical pathogenesis of osteoarthritic knee is also discussed. Assessments were practiced about the knee motion of eighteen female patients with osteoarthritic knees; the controls were sixty-five volunteers of the adult healthy group including thirty-four males and thirty-one females. Typical motion patterns of active flexion and of early stance phase during gait cycle were evaluated to detect the difference based on osteoarthritis levels and gender. In results of this study, changes of adduction and internal rotation were appeared in the knee motion pattern during active flexion and early stance phase during gait cycle. During the active flexion, the mean values of adduction angle during flexion were 0.38±0.22 degrees in male group(MG), O.18±0.28 degrees in female group(FG) and 0.29±0.21 degrees in osteoarthritic knee group(OAG). On the other hand, in the early stance phase, the mean values of adduction angle during flexion were 0.29±0.21 degrees in MG, and were 0.29±0.27 degrees in FG and 0.87±0.48 degrees in OAG. During weight bearing motion of OAG, adduction angles increased to 0.58 degrees in the osteoarthritic knee, remarkably, that should mean as a phenomenon of the knee thrust. The thrust of OAG might be related to the joint laxity, deterioration of power in the quadriceps femoris muscle, the problem of their body weight and of aging. In the present study, the biomechanical pathogenesis of an osteoarthritic knee would be discussed about factors of osteoarthritic knee and be presented a few sources of knee osteoarthritis of femal quantitatively