Clinical biomechanics
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Clinical biomechanics · Mar 2008
Clinical TrialWeight bearing after tibial fracture as a guide to healing.
Judging when it is safe to remove an external fixator or plaster cast requires clinical and radiological assessment, both of which are subjective. Weight bearing has been shown to increase with time post-fracture and we hypothesised that it could be used as an objective measure of fracture healing. ⋯ Weight bearing correlates reasonably well with fracture stiffness. It is quicker and easier to measure than fracture stiffness and potentially has relevance to other fracture fixation methods.
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Clinical biomechanics · Mar 2008
Examining outcomes from total knee arthroplasty and the relationship between quadriceps strength and knee function over time.
Temporal-spatial gait parameters improve following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) but lower limb kinematics and moments fail to match those of age-matched healthy individuals. The aim of this study was to determine whether quadriceps strength, clinical measures of knee function, lower limb kinematics, and joint moments improve following arthroplasty and normalize over time. ⋯ Patients who have undergone TKA demonstrate improvements in function as measured by self-report and functional performance measures. Gait becomes more symmetric and quadriceps strength becomes stronger. Some approached the values of healthy control subjects. Important differences still remain however. The larger hip extensor contribution to the total support moment may be to compensate for the diminished knee extensor contribution during level walking. Since instrumented gait analysis and functional performance measures appear to reflect different aspects of recovery following total knee replacement, both should be considered when evaluating gait and function.