Individuals with unilateral lower-limb loss are at increased risk for developing knee osteoarthritis in their contralateral limb, though the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are unknown, large or unusual loads on the limb are thought to contribute to osteoarthritis development.
The results of a study published online in the June issue of Gait & Posture, determined that the knee adduction moment peak and impulse do not change during the first six months of walking with a prosthesis. The study aimed to examine knee joint kinetics of individuals with lower-limb loss as a function of time from independent ambulation. Study results showed that although there was a significant time effect on stride length, there were no pairwise differences. Additionally, there was not a significant effect of time on the peak, loading rate, or impulse of knee adduction moment, peak knee flexion moment, or the peak or loading rate of vertical ground reaction force.
Eight male service members with unilateral lower-limb loss (three with transfemoral amputations and five with transtibial amputations) completed gait analyses, walking at self-selected speed and cadence, at zero, two and six months following initial independent ambulation. The results of the study demonstrated that major features of knee joint loading didn’t change over that time period.
