The Effect of Commercially Available Footwear Interventions in Meniscectomy Patients

Injuries to the meniscus are common in sport. A meniscectomy is often performed to manage symptoms associated with the meniscal injury. Following a meniscectomy individuals are highly likely to develop knee osteoarthritis (OA). Footwear interventions have demonstrated biomechanical changes during walking and running, in healthy and individuals with osteoarthritis. With the increased risk of developing OA associated with meniscectomy patients, understanding biomechanical changes with footwear when compared to healthy individuals, may provide a conservative approach to delaying or minimising the development of (OA). There is no current literature assessing the effect footwear has post meniscectomy, so this is a very novel approach and can yield important results for the management of future risks. Current evidence supports the use of footwear interventions aiming to minimise OA progression in older adults during walking. Yet, meniscectomy patients who have sustained an injury during sport are likely to continue to participate in sport following treatment in their usual footwear. Further evidence is required to better understand the effect of footwear interventions during dynamic movements often performed in sport. Previous studies have assessed customised footwear interventions, however these interventions are not representative of commercially available interventions that could be widely used by the general population. Therefore assessing commercially available footwear will give a more realistic approach to conservative treatment for meniscectomy patients. This project aims to examine biomechanical differences between commercially available footwear conditions in healthy individuals and individuals who have had a meniscal injury. Three-dimensional kinetic and kinematic measures will be assessed during five tasks (walking, running, 90 degrees side cut, single leg landing, and small knee bend squat), for different footwear conditions.