Knee osteoarthritis, degenerative meniscal lesion and osteonecrosis of the knee: Can a simple gait test direct us to a better clinical diagnosis.
The purpose of the current study was to compare the gait patterns in patients with three differing knee pathologies - knee osteoarthritis (OA), degenerative meniscal lesion (DML) and spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee (SONK) and a group of healthy controls.



A simple gait test will detect differences between different knee pathologies.



Forty-seven patients with bilateral knee OA, 47 patients with DML, 28 patients with SONK and 27 healthy controls were included in this analysis. Patients underwent a spatiotemporal gait assessment and were asked to complete the Western Ontario and McMaster University (WOMAC) Index and the Short-Form (SF)-36 Health Survey. ANOVA tests, followed by Bonferroni multiple comparison tests and the Chi2tests were performed for continuous and categorical variables, respectively.



Significant differences were found for all gait measures and clinical questionnaires between healthy controls and all knee conditions. Patients with SONK differed from patients with bilateral knee OA and DML in all gait measures and clinical questionnaires, except for WOMAC subscales. There were no significant differences between patients with bilateral knee OA and patients with DML. Symmetry was also examined and revealed asymmetry in some gait parameters in patients with SONK and DML.



Based on the differences in gait parameters that were found in the current study, adding an objective functional spatiotemporal gait test may assist in the diagnostic process of knee pathologies.



Case Control study Level III.
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Barzliay Medical Center, Ashkelon, Israel.
R
R
Debi
AposTherapy Research Group, Herzliya, Israel.
A
A
Elbaz
AposTherapy Research Group, Herzliya, Israel. Electronic address: researchdept10@gmail.com.
A
A
Mor
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Barzliay Medical Center, Ashkelon, Israel.
G
G
Kahn
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.
B
B
Peskin
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel.
Y
Y
Beer
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel.
G
G
Agar
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
G
G
Morag
AposTherapy Research Group, Herzliya, Israel.
G
G
Segal
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009864:Ontario; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D010020:Osteonecrosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000070600:Tibial Meniscus Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology
Degenerative meniscal lesion; Gait analysis; Knee; Osteoarthritis; Osteonecrosis; SONK