Effects of the New Type of Knee Orthosis on EMG Activity of Knee Extensor and Flexor Muscles in People with Knee Osteoarthritis during Walking

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common causes of disability in the elderly. Patients with medial knee osteoarthritis frequently experience knee instability, the sensation of buckling, and giving way that increase muscle activity. The objective of the present study was to assess the effect of a new type of knee orthosis on the muscle activity of the lower limb muscles in medial knee osteoarthritis patients during gait.
A total of 10 patients with knee Osteoarthritis (mean age 56.1± 5.6 years) participated in the current research project. The participants walked at their self-selected speed to perform 7 trials with knee orthosis and 7 trials without knee orthosis. The activity of the lower limb muscles was recorded using the surface electromyographic system. The paired t-tests with a significance level of 0.05 were run for the final analysis.
The mean and standard deviation values of the root-mean-square and pain severity (P= 0/05) decreased significantly while walking with the orthosis compared to those without orthosis condition, although differences were not significant for walking speed (P= 0/34) and time taken to perform the timed up and go test (P= 0/8) during gait with and without the orthosis.
According to the results of the current study, it seems that the new design of the knee orthosis has a significant effect on severity of pain and reduction of the muscle activation in individuals with knee osteoarthritis due to mechanical stabilization of the knee offered by the brace.