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In vivo hip pressures during cane and load-carrying gait
C A McGibbon1, D E Krebs, R W Mann
1Department of Orthopaedics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114, USA.
Objective:
To test the hypotheses that carrying a load reduces hip contact pressure ipsilateral to the load and that using a cane when carrying a load further reduces hip contact pressure.
Methods:
A Moore-type endoprosthesis with 13 femoral-head pressure transducers was implanted in a human subject following a Garden III fracture. Hip contact pressures were measured during unaided, cane-aided, and load-carrying gait over two years.
Results:
Relative to unloaded gait, contact pressures increased significantly when ipsilateral to the carried load. Using a contralateral cane when carrying the load reduced ipsilateral posterior-superior contact pressure; however, the hip contralateral to the load experienced significantly higher than normal pressures.
Conclusions:
Ipsilaterally carried loads may not always provide stress protection of the arthritic hip. Using a cane opposite to the load may aid in restoring normal pressures to the ipsilateral hip, but may expose the contralateral hip to a significant stress burden.