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. 2016 Jan;44(1):143-51.
doi: 10.1177/0363546515608475. Epub 2015 Oct 22.

Decreased Knee Joint Loading Associated With Early Knee Osteoarthritis After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury

Elizabeth Wellsandt  1 , Emily S Gardinier  2 , Kurt Manal  3 , Michael J Axe  4 , Thomas S Buchanan  3 , Lynn Snyder-Mackler  3
Affiliations

Decreased Knee Joint Loading Associated With Early Knee Osteoarthritis After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury

Elizabeth Wellsandt et al. Am J Sports Med. 2016 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury predisposes individuals to early-onset knee joint osteoarthritis (OA). Abnormal joint loading is apparent after ACL injury and reconstruction. The relationship between altered joint biomechanics and the development of knee OA is unknown.

Hypothesis: Altered knee joint kinetics and medial compartment contact forces initially after injury and reconstruction are associated with radiographic knee OA 5 years after reconstruction.

Study design: Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods: Individuals with acute, unilateral ACL injury completed gait analysis before (baseline) and after (posttraining) preoperative rehabilitation and at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years after reconstruction. Surface electromyographic and knee biomechanical data served as inputs to an electromyographically driven musculoskeletal model to estimate knee joint contact forces. Patients completed radiographic testing 5 years after reconstruction. Differences in knee joint kinetics and contact forces were compared between patients with and those without radiographic knee OA.

Results: Patients with OA walked with greater frontal plane interlimb differences than those without OA (nonOA) at baseline (peak knee adduction moment difference: 0.00 ± 0.08 N·m/kg·m [nonOA] vs -0.15 ± 0.09 N·m/kg·m [OA], P = .014; peak knee adduction moment impulse difference: -0.001 ± 0.032 N·m·s/kg·m [nonOA] vs -0.048 ± 0.031 N·m·s/kg·m [OA], P = .042). The involved limb knee adduction moment impulse of the group with osteoarthritis was also lower than that of the group without osteoarthritis at baseline (0.087 ± 0.023 N·m·s/kg·m [nonOA] vs 0.049 ± 0.018 N·m·s/kg·m [OA], P = .023). Significant group differences were absent at posttraining but reemerged 6 months after reconstruction (peak knee adduction moment difference: 0.02 ± 0.04 N·m/kg·m [nonOA] vs -0.06 ± 0.11 N·m/kg·m [OA], P = .043). In addition, the OA group walked with lower peak medial compartment contact forces of the involved limb than did the group without OA at 6 months (2.89 ± 0.52 body weight [nonOA] vs 2.10 ± 0.69 body weight [OA], P = .036).

Conclusion: Patients who had radiographic knee OA 5 years after ACL reconstruction walked with lower knee adduction moments and medial compartment joint contact forces than did those patients without OA early after injury and reconstruction.

Keywords: anterior cruciate ligament; contact force; knee moment; loading; osteoarthritis.

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Conflict of interest statement

One or more of the authors has declared the following potential conflict of interest

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of study cohort. ACL, anterior cruciate ligament.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean values for involved limb and interlimb differences in kinetic measures and medial compartment contact forces between those with and without radiographic medial compartment knee osteoarthritis (OA) 5 years after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Effect sizes (ES) provided. *P ≤ .05. Whiskers represent ±1 standard deviation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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