Effect of Knee Pain on Walking Biomechanics

This study will evaluate the effects of unilateral knee pain on contralateral knee joint loading during different types of walking. Thirty adults with unilateral symptomatic knee osteoarthritis will complete four, 1.5-hour study visits. The first and third visits will include level, inclined, and declined walking at comfortable, fast, and slow speeds. The second and fourth visits will include a 30-minute walk. There will be at least two days between visits. The only difference between each pair of visits is that one visit will involve walking with unilateral knee pain (painful walking) and the other visit will involve walking without unilateral knee pain (nonpainful walking). Individuals will be recruited based on the presence of unilateral knee pain so the painful walking will be representative of their typical walking. For the visits with nonpainful walking, the third and fourth visits, pain will be alleviated by performing an intraarticular injection with a local anesthetic (lidocaine hydrochloride). All walking will be performed in a three-dimensional motion capture environment on a split-belt treadmill that is instrumented with force plates.

A cohort of 30 healthy individuals will complete the same walking conditions at two, 1.5-hour study visits. The healthy control group will not receive intraarticular knee injections. The purpose of this cohort is to better understand how walking mechanics in individuals with unilateral knee osteoarthritis compare to similar individuals without knee osteoarthritis.