title: Load-shifting brace treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee: a minimum 2 1/2-year follow-up study.
abstract: Objectives in treating primarily unicompartmental knee arthritis with a load-shifting brace are pain relief, compliance, brace durability, and complication-free treatment over multiple years. This was a single institution retrospective chart review, radiograph review, and telephone survey of patients treated from 1997 to 1999 with a load-shifting knee brace. Forty-six patients (49 knees) with a minimum 2 1/2-year follow-up (average 3.3 years) were reviewed. Kaplan-Meier survivorship analysis revealed that load-shifting brace use had a survival of 76% at 1 year, 69% at 2 years, and 61% at 3 years. Younger patients had a higher likelihood of longer brace use than older patients. One patient had ipsilateral leg swelling and a pulmonary embolus after initiating bracing. Eliminating the high numbers of early failures would be desirable. One should be aware of the potential complication of venous thrombosis and thromboembolism.
authors.affiliation: Surgical Service (112), VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. ngiori@stanford.edu
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Giori
mesh_terms: D001915:Braces; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016474:Weight-Bearing