Gait mechanics contribute to exercise induced pain flares in knee osteoarthritis.
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ABSTRACT: Background
Exercise-induced pain flares represent a significant barrier for individuals with knee osteoarthritis to meet physical activity recommendations. There is a need to understand factors that contribute to pain flares and the potential for the motor system to adapt and reduce joint loading should a flare occur. The study aim was to examine the impact of a bout of exercise on self-reported pain, walking mechanics and muscle co-contraction for participants with knee osteoarthritis.Methods
Thirty-six adults (17 healthy older and 19 knee osteoarthritis) participated in this study. Self-reported pain, joint mechanics and muscle co-activation during gait at two self-selected speeds were collected before and after a 20-min preferred pace treadmill walk (20MTW).Results
Eight of nineteen osteoarthritis participants had a clinically significant pain flare response to the 20MTW. At baseline the participants that did not experience a pain flare had smaller knee flexion and total reaction moments compared to both the participants with pain flares (p?=?0.02; p?=?0.05) and controls (p?ConclusionsIndividuals who adapt their gait to reduce knee joint loads may be less susceptible to exercise-induced pain flares. This highlights a potential role of gait biomechanics in short-term osteoarthritis pain fluctuations. The results also suggest that despite the chronic nature of osteoarthritis pain, the motor system's ability to respond to nociceptive stimuli remains intact.
SUBMITTER: Boyer KA
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6419357 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:The purpose of this review article is to explore the role of therapeutic exercise in managing the pain associated with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Therapeutic exercise is often recommended as a first-line conservative treatment for knee OA, and current evidence supports exercise as an effective pain-relieving intervention. We explore the current state of evidence for exercise as a pain-relieving intervention for knee OA. Next, the mechanisms by which knee OA pain occurs and the potential ways in which exercise may act on those mechanisms are discussed. Clinical applicability and future research directions are suggested. Although evidence demonstrates that exercise reduces knee OA pain, optimal exercise mode and dosage have not been determined. In addition, it is not clearly understood whether exercise provides pain relief via peripheral or central mechanisms or a combination of both. Published clinical trials have explored a variety of interventions, but these interventions have not been specifically designed to target pain pathways. Current evidence strongly supports exercise as a pain-relieving option for those with knee OA. Future research needs to illuminate the mechanisms by which exercise reduces the pain associated with knee OA and the development of therapeutic exercise interventions to specifically target these mechanisms.
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| S-EPMC6059300 | biostudies-literature
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2018-11-05 | GSE99662 | GEO
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Project description: Not available
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Project description:ObjectiveThis study aims to 1) determine the feasibility of conducting a full-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating the efficacy of a gait retraining program on decreasing knee pain and impact loading in people with knee osteoarthritis, and 2) provide an estimate of treatment effects for a gait retraining program compared to a traditional walking program.MethodsForty individuals with knee osteoarthritis will be enrolled in this randomized, double-blind, feasibility trial with two parallel groups. Participants will be randomly allocated to a gait retraining program aimed to decrease peak axial acceleration of the lower leg (i.e., tibia) by 20% or a traditional walking program. Both programs involve 8 sessions of walking on a treadmill. Feasibility will be assessed with recruitment, enrollment, and retention rates, and number of adverse events and unanticipated problems. Treatment effects will be estimated with measures of knee pain and impact loading collected at baseline, follow-up (<1 week post-intervention), and retention (≥1 month post-intervention) visits. Knee pain will be evaluated with the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index and impact loading will be measured during walking with three-dimensional motion analysis.ConclusionFindings of this study will inform the feasibility of a full-scale RCT investigating the efficacy of a gait retraining program for people with knee osteoarthritis.Trial registration(NCT04148807).
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Project description:ObjectivesTo explore how Australian exercise physiologists (EPs) utilise pain neuroscience education (PNE) in their management of patients with knee osteoarthritis.MethodsA semi-structured interview concerning a knee osteoarthritis vignette was designed to understand each participant's beliefs about physical activity, pain, injury and coping strategies and quantify their use of pain neuroscience concepts. Themes were derived from pre-determined pain target concepts as well as others that emerged from thematic analysis.ResultsThirty EPs (57% male, mean clinical experience 7 years (SD 7.1) participated in the semi-structured interviews. 13 themes emerged. EPs primarily focussed on: (1) active treatment strategies are better than passive, (2) pain and tissue damage rarely relate, and (3) learning about pain can help individuals and society. Other themes included the use of biomedical-based education, pain during exercise and delivery of PNE. Underutilised themes included the role of the brain in pain, validation that pain is real and personal, the concept of danger sensors as opposed to pain sensors, and pain depends on the balance between safety and danger.ConclusionEPs primarily advised on active treatment approaches (e.g. exercise and self-management). Quality of care is likely to improve through increasing focus on the systemic benefits of exercise in overcoming psychological barriers (e.g. fear avoidance and pain catastrophising) that may prevent exercise treatment engagement. Broadening PNE to reconceptualise knee osteoarthritis pain as a sign of an overprotective nervous system, rather than structural damage, may facilitate greater patient engagement in exercise therapies, thus improving patient outcomes.
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Project description:BACKGROUND:Exercise therapy is recommended for knee osteoarthritis (OA), but the underlying mechanisms of pain relief are not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of exercise on muscle perfusion assessed by dynamic contrast enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) and its association with changes in pain in patients with knee OA. METHODS:Exploratory outcome analyses of a randomised controlled study with per-protocol analyses ( ClinicalTrials.gov : NCT01545258) performed at an outpatient clinic at a public hospital in Denmark. We compared 12 weeks of supervised exercise therapy 3 times per week (ET) with a no attention control group (CG). Analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to assess group mean differences in changes from baseline to week 12 in knee muscle perfusion quantified by DCE-MRI, patient-reported pain and function using the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) questionnaire, knee extensor and flexor muscle strength tests, and the six-minute walking test (6MWT). Spearman's correlation coefficients were used to determine the correlation between changes in DCE-MRI variables, KOOS, muscle strength, and 6MWT. The potential effect mediation of the DCE-MRI perfusion variables was investigated in a post-hoc mediation analysis. RESULTS:Of 60 participants randomised with knee osteoarthritis, 33 (ET, n = 16, CG, n = 17) adhered to the protocol and had complete DCE-MRI data. At follow-up, there were significant group differences in muscle perfusion changes and clinically relevant group differences in KOOS pain changes (10.7, 95% CI 3.3 to 18.1, P = 0.006) in favor of ET. There were no significant between-group differences on muscle strength and function. The changes in pain and muscle perfusion were significantly correlated (highest Spearman's rho = 0.42, P = 0.014). The mediation analyses were generally not statistically significant. CONCLUSION:The pain-reducing effects of a 12-week exercise program are associated with changes in knee muscle perfusion quantified by DCE-MRI in individuals with knee OA, but whether the effects are mediated by muscle perfusion changes remains unclear. TRIAL REGISTRATION:ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01545258 , first posted March 6, 2012.
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| S-EPMC4567520 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Abstract-Gait modification is a nonsurgical approach for reducing the external knee adduction torque in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). The magnitude of the first adduction torque peak in particular is strongly associated with knee OA progression. While toeing out has been shown to reduce the second peak, no clinically realistic gait modifications have been identified that effectively reduce both peaks simultaneously. This study predicts novel patient-specific gait modifications that achieve this goal without changing the foot path. The modified gait motion was designed for a single patient with knee OA using dynamic optimization of a patient-specific, full-body gait model. The cost function minimized the knee adduction torque subject to constraints limiting how much the new gait motion could deviate from the patient's normal gait motion. The optimizations predicted a "medial-thrust" gait pattern that reduced the first adduction torque peak between 32% and 54% and the second peak between 34% and 56%. The new motion involved three synergistic kinematic changes: slightly decreased pelvis obliquity, slightly increased leg flexion, and slightly increased pelvis axial rotation. After gait retraining, the patient achieved adduction torque reductions of 39% to 50% in the first peak and 37% to 55% in the second one. These reductions are comparable to those reported after high tibial osteotomy surgery. The associated kinematic changes were consistent with the predictions except for pelvis obliquity, which showed little change. This study demonstrates that it is feasible to design novel patient-specific gait modifications with potential clinical benefit using dynamic optimization of patient-specific, full-body gait models. Further investigation is needed to assess the extent to which similar gait modifications may be effective for other patients with knee OA.
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