Offloader knee braces for knee osteoarthritis.

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent condition causing significant disability.
• Non-pharmacological treatments, including offloader knee braces, are explored for OA management.
• Current literature lacks consensus on the specific indications for offloader knee brace use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically evaluate the efficacy of offloader knee braces in managing knee osteoarthritis.
• To synthesize evidence from randomized controlled trials on functional outcomes and quality of life.
• To assess the impact of offloader knee braces on pain and adverse events in knee OA patients.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive search of systematic reviews in the Epistemonikos database.
• Inclusion of data from multiple sources (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane).
• Meta-analysis of primary studies and GRADE approach for certainty of evidence assessment.

Main Results:

• Offloader knee braces likely improve walking distance in knee OA patients.
• Minimal to no effect observed on Hospital for Special Surgery Knee scores.
• Potential slight decrease in quality of life and increase in adverse events noted.

Conclusions:

• The use of offloader knee braces may enhance physical function, specifically walking distance.
• Evidence regarding effects on other functional scores, quality of life, and pain is of low to very low certainty.
• Further high-quality research is needed to clarify the role of offloader knee braces in knee OA management.