Association between meniscal tears and the peak external knee adduction moment and foot rotation during level walking in postmenopausal women without knee osteoarthritis: a cross-sectional study
Introduction Meniscal injury is a risk factor for the development
and progression of knee osteoarthritis, yet little is known about
risk factors for meniscal pathology. Joint loading mediated via
gait parameters may be associated with meniscal tears, and
determining whether such an association exists was the aim of
this study.
Methods Three-dimensional Vicon gait analyses were
performed on the dominant knee of 20 non-osteoarthritic
women, and the peak external knee adduction moment during
early and late stance was determined. The degree of foot
rotation was also examined when the knee adductor moment
peaked during early and late stance. Magnetic resonance
imaging was used to determine the presence and severity of
meniscal lesions in the dominant knee.
Results The presence (P = 0.04) and severity (P = 0.01) of
medial meniscal tears were positively associated with the peak
external knee adduction moment during early stance while a trend for late stance was observed (P = 0.07). They were also
associated with increasing degrees of internal foot rotation
during late stance, independent of the magnitude of the peak
external knee adduction moment occurring at that time (P =
0.03). During level walking among healthy women, the presence
and severity of medial meniscal tears were positively associated
with the peak external knee adduction moment. Moreover, the
magnitude of internal foot rotation was associated with the
presence and severity of medial meniscal lesions, independent
of the peak knee adductor moment during late stance.
Conclusion These data may suggest that gait parameters may
be associated with meniscal damage, although longitudinal
studies will be required to clarify whether gait abnormalities
predate meniscal lesions, or vice versa, and therefore whether
modification of gait patterns may be helpful