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Do wedged insoles improve outcomes in patients with knee osteoarthritis?

Nature Clinical Practice Rheumatology volume 4, pages 630–631 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Biomechanical factors have a critical role in the onset and progression of osteoarthritis (OA). A recent carefully designed, randomized, controlled trial by Rodrigues and colleagues examined the use of an 8 mm medial-wedge insole for the management of lateral compartment knee OA associated with a valgus deformity. In this study the use of a wedged insole, together with ankle straps to provide ankle stability, was associated with substantial improvements in pain and functional status compared with a control, neutral insole; however, the trial sample size was small. Previous studies on lateral-wedge insoles for medial compartment knee OA have had conflicting results. Until larger, more-definitive trials are conducted, it would be reasonable for clinicians to provisionally recommend medial-wedge insoles for patients with lateral knee OA and a valgus deformity.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks A Wagenseller for her thoughtful contributions to this paper. The author is supported by grants from the NIH (K24 AR 02123, P60 AR 47782 and R01 AR55557).

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Author notes

  1. Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy, Brigham and Women's Hospital, OBC-4, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA jnkatz@partners.org

Authors and Affiliations

  1. JN Katz is Associate Professor of Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, and Director of the Orthopedic and Arthritis Center for Outcomes Research at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,

    Jeffrey N Katz

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  1. Jeffrey N Katz
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Katz, J. Do wedged insoles improve outcomes in patients with knee osteoarthritis?. Nat Rev Rheumatol 4, 630–631 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncprheum0926

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