Investigation of the differences in foot and ankle characteristics of patients with lower limb osteoarthritis : implications for clinical practice
type: CreativeWork
description: To date, the foot posture of patients with lower limb osteoarthritis (OA) has not been explored from an orthopaedic perspective. In other medical fields such as neurology and sports medicine, a relationship between foot posture, gait and pathology has been acknowledged. In view of the current high incidence of lower limb OA, investigation of any differences in foot posture in patients with lower limb OA that may lead to improved assessment and conservative management is worthy of consideration. The first component of the thesis investigated a clinically observed difference in the foot posture of 60 patients with hip OA, 60 patients with medial compartment osteoarthritis of the knee (MCOA) and 60 healthy volunteers using an observational study. A significant difference in foot characteristics was demonstrated. Patients with hip OA demonstrated a lack of dorsiflexion and a greater degree of calcaneal inversion, presenting with a supinated foot. Patients with MCOA demonstrated ample dorsiflexion and a greater degree of calcaneal eversion, presenting with a pronated foot. In general, the healthy volunteers demonstrated average dorsiflexion and average calcaneal eversion and this gave the appearance of a normal foot. This did not, however, provide evidence of any causal relationship. A pre and post operative observational study of 55 patients with MCOA who underwent the Oxford unicompartmental knee arthroplasty was then undertaken. As a result of this surgery there is a major correction of varus to valgus knee orientation which is significant clinically and statistically. Although there is a major change in knee orientation, this study showed that the foot posture was not altered. This study also does not provide evidence that foot posture is causal in the development of MCOA. It does, however, give an indication of the robustness of the foot postures of these patients. The second component of the thesis was concerned with clinical outcome measures for the assessment of …
abstract: To date, the foot posture of patients with lower limb osteoarthritis (OA) has not been explored from an orthopaedic perspective. In other medical fields such as neurology and sports medicine, a relationship between foot posture, gait and pathology has been acknowledged. In view of the current high incidence of lower limb OA, investigation of any differences in foot posture in patients with lower limb OA that may lead to improved assessment and conservative management is worthy of consideration. The first component of the thesis investigated a clinically observed difference in the foot posture of 60 patients with hip OA, 60 patients with medial compartment osteoarthritis of the knee (MCOA) and 60 healthy volunteers using an observational study. A significant difference in foot characteristics was demonstrated. Patients with hip OA demonstrated a lack of dorsiflexion and a greater degree of calcaneal inversion, presenting with a supinated foot. Patients with MCOA demonstrated ample dorsiflexion and a greater degree of calcaneal eversion, presenting with a pronated foot. In general, the healthy volunteers demonstrated average dorsiflexion and average calcaneal eversion and this gave the appearance of a normal foot. This did not, however, provide evidence of any causal relationship. A pre and post operative observational study of 55 patients with MCOA who underwent the Oxford unicompartmental knee arthroplasty was then undertaken. As a result of this surgery there is a major correction of varus to valgus knee orientation which is significant clinically and statistically. Although there is a major change in knee orientation, this study showed that the foot posture was not altered. This study also does not provide evidence that foot posture is causal in the development of MCOA. It does, however, give an indication of the robustness of the foot postures of these patients. The second component of the thesis was concerned with clinical outcome measures for the assessment of …
author: Reilly, Kathleen
language: en
date published: 2007
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:43:49Z
provider: Oxford Brookes University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Oxford Brookes University

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.24384/qdkk-xx26