Noman Shakeel Niazi, Suhail Niaz Khan Niazi, Khalid Niaz Khan Niazi, Mudassar Siddique, Madiha Iqbal.
Comparison of the Effectiveness of knee braces and lateral wedge insole in the Management of Medial Compartment knee osteoarthritis.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;8(1):37-40.

Aim: To compare the effect of non operative treatment of medial compartment knee osteoarthritis by off-loading knee braces and Lateral wedge insole (shoe modification). Methods: We enrolled 120 consecutive patients with symptomatic medial compartmental knee OA, half of the patients were randomly given Valgus knee brace and half were given lateral wedge insoles. All patients were assessed at 6 months. 6 patients lost follow up. The primary outcome measure was pain severity as measured on a visual analog scale. Secondary outcome measures were knee function score using WOMAC. Results: There were total 120 patients of which 52(43.3%) were male while 68(56.7%) were female. Pain severity and walking distance reduced significantly in both lateral wedge and un-loader bracing groups, while more pronounced reduction of the mean outcome assessments was observed in the un-loader brace group in the management of medial compartment knee osteoarthritis (P-value<0.05). Average resting pain of the knee bracing decreased from 6.14 to 4.2, while mean activity level was increases from 35 to 38 on a visual analog scoring scale Conclusion: Both treatments are effective but three point valgus knee brace support had more significant effect on pain reduction, walking distance and pain killer as compared to lateral wedge insoles.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com