Functional electrostimulation therapy for vastus medialis decreases the varus thrust during gait.
Noboru Shimada, Masashi Shimada, Minoru Toriyama and 6 others
PMID 38562536WHAT IT FOUND
Functional electrical stimulation to the vastus medialis during walking reduced varus thrust by 0.5 degrees in 10 patients with knee osteoarthritis.
However, knee adduction moment increased, and the small change fell within measurement error limits.
Key findings
01Varus thrust decreased from 2.7 to 2.2 degrees after the intervention.
02Knee adduction moment increased from 0.50 to 0.56 Nm/BW after the intervention.
03The observed 0.5-degree reduction in varus thrust is within the estimated error margin of motion-capture techniques.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Very small sample size (n=10) with no control group. The reduction in varus thrust (0.5 degrees) was within the estimated systematic error of the motion-capture technology. Knee adduction moment, a standard indicator of medial knee load, increased rather than decreased. No long-term follow-up to assess effects on osteoarthritis progression or symptoms.
Declared interests
Funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume the reduction in varus thrust represents a clinically meaningful improvement. The change was only 0.5 degrees, which is within the known error margin of the measurement system, and the knee adduction moment increased, suggesting higher joint load.