Sunday, September 09, 2012

Osteoarthritis of the knee

Degenerative Osteoarthritis of the Knee

Avoiding and preventing the surgery should be a primary goal of the physician treating orthopedic disease of the knee joint.

The knee is primarily a hinge joint and its primary function is to flex and extended with it's articulation with the tibia and the femur. The knee joint is affected by all three body planes.

Transverse Plane
Excessive internal rotation of the lower leg produced by excessive foot pronation is a primary cause for knee instability. When the foot overly collapses or pronates, the leg goes through excessive internal rotation during the mid stance phase of the gait cycle. This offsets the normal axis of motion of the knee joint causing the normal range of motion of the knee to be affected.

Frontal Plane
Knock knee position (coxa vara genu valgum) crests additional knee instability.

Lateral Plane
Hyper-extension of the knee along with tight posterior compartment shortages (equinus of gastrocnemius (calf) and hamstrings) are another deforming force on knee mechanics.

New methods of biomechanical and ergonomic intervention

  • 3-D weight bearing kinematic imaging is a static and dynamic cyclic load stress analysis for providing the physician with critical information relative to loadbearing mechanics of the limb, pelvis and spine. Understanding the mechanical causes of knee disease is critical in both preventing surgery reducing medical costs and treatment and providing effective postoperative treatment regimens, especially in the case of knee implant surgery.
  • Critical surgical planning and biomechanical evaluation of of all three body planes (limb length, leg positioning (frontal plane) and rotation, muscle compartment strengths and weaknesses) are necessary evaluations prior to surgical intervention.
  • If the implant surgery must be done, the patient should be evaluated postoperatively at three and six months as the implants seats in both the tibia and the femur postoperatively abd then followed every two years for adaption changes as the implant and other structures heal and compensate for surgical intervention. 

Using 3-D weight-bearing kinematic imaging provides a true biomechanical and ergonomic snapshot of the patients static and functional conditions relative to cyclic load. Utilizing 3DO imaging (Three Dimensional Orthodynamics) is a very affective diagnostic tool for the assessment of both pre-surgical and post-surgical changes of the knee joint.

More information regarding 3DO technology can be provided by going to the following websites;
 
 


 
 
 
 

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