Applied Bionics and Biomechanics

Review Article

Biomechanical Effect of Valgus Knee Braces on the Treatment of Medial Gonarthrosis: A Systematic Review

Table 1

Studies that evaluated the effect of knee brace on spatiotemporal parameters in medial gonarthrosis.


References	Type of brace	Sample size	Duration	Study design	Outcome measurements	Results

Arazpour et al. [26]	Double-hinged brace (air cushions)	7 P (5F/2M)	Immediate effect	Walk	Walking speed Step length	The walking speed and step length were significantly increased.
Brand et al. [27]	Double-hinged brace	22 P (10F/12M)	2 weeks	Walk	Walking speed Step length Cadence FPA	The walking speed, step length, step cadence, and FPA were not significantly changed.
Croce et al. [28]	Single-hinged brace (air cushions)	18 P (6F/12M)	Immediate effect	Walk	Walking speed	The average walking speed was not statistically changed between the unbraced, uninflated, and 7 psi conditions.
Draganich et al. [29]	Double-hinged brace	10 P (-)	4-5 weeks	Walk	Walking speed	The walking speed was not significantly changed.
Fesharaki et al. [30]	Double-hinged brace (two DOF)	16 (11F/5M)	Immediate effect	Walk	Walking speed Stride length	The walking speed and stride length were significantly increased.
Gaasbeek et al. [31]	Single-hinged brace (air cushions)	15 P (3F/12M)	6 weeks	Walk	Walking speed Step length FPA	The walking speed was increased and the step length was reduced. FPA was not significantly changed.
Hall et al. [21]	Single-hinged brace	16 H (7F/9M)	Immediate effect	Walk	Walking speed Stride length Step width	The walking speed, stride length, and stride width were not significantly changed.
Johnson et al. [32]	Double-hinged brace	10 P (4F/6M)	3 months	Walk	Walking speed	The average walking speed increased from 100 cm/s to 112 cm/s.
Karimi et al. [33]	Double-hinged brace	5 P (-)	Immediate effect	Walk	Walking speed Stride length Cadence	The walking speed, stride length, and cadence were not significantly changed.
Kutzner et al. [34]	Single/double-hinged brace	3 P (-)	Immediate effect	Walk	Stride length	The stride length was not significantly changed.
Lamberg et al. [35]	Double-hinged brace	15 P (3F/12M)	2 weeks 8 weeks	Walk	Walking speed	The walking speed was significantly increased.
Laroche et al. [36]	Double-hinged brace	20 P (16F/4M)	5 weeks	Walk	Walking speed Step width FPA	The walking speed was definitely increased. Step width was not statistically changed. FPA was significantly reduced at the TS and PO phase.
Pollo et al. [37]	Single-hinged brace	11 P (-)	>2 weeks	Walk	Walking speed	The walking speed was not significantly changed.
Schmalz et al. [38]	Single-hinged brace	16 P (8F/8M)	4 weeks	Walk	Walking speed Cadence Step length	The mean walking speed, cadence, and step length were significantly increased.
Toriyama et al. [39]	Single-hinged brace	19 P (17F/2M)	Immediate effect	Walk	Walk speed Cadence Step length Stride length	The walking speed and cadence were significantly increased. Other variables were not significantly changed.

P: patient; F: female; M: male; H: healthy; (-): not mentioned; DOF: degree-of-freedom; FPA: foot progression angle; TS: terminal stance; PO: push-off.