DETECTING ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN KNEE ROTATIONAL LAXITY AND KINEMATICS IN A HEALTHY POPULATION

摘要

Passive knee laxity, which is determined by the soft tissues and articular structures of the knee, allows for the translation and rotation of the knee. While laxity increases following soft tissue injury, there is a lack of clinical evidence demonstrating a relationship between increased passive laxity and subsequent clinical problems such as osteoarthritis. However, there is increasing evidence that abnormal active rotational kinematics during walking are a potential risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA) initiation and progression. Establishing a relationship between passive knee laxity and active knee kinematics is therefore clinically important, but at present there is a paucity of information on the interaction between passive and active knee rotational movement. The objective of this study was to assess correlations in healthy individuals between passive knee laxity and active kinematics during the stance phase of walking by testing the following two hypotheses: 1.) Increased rotational knee laxity measured with a newly developed knee rotational device (KRD) is associated with increased knee rotation during gait; 2.) Increased anterior-posterior (AP) translational knee laxity is associated with increased knee rotation during gait.