Elucidation of pain relief mechanism of conservative therapy for patients with knee meniscal injuries using musculoskeletal modeling system.

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K17743
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 59010:Rehabilitation science-related
• Research Institution: Kurume University
• Principal Investigator: Ogata Yuta 久留米大学, 大学病院, 医療技術員 (00807951)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 半月板損傷 / 理学療法 / 筋骨格モデリング / リハビリテーション / 保存療法 / 動作解析 / 歩行 / 痛み

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We investigated the mechanism of pain in patients with knee meniscus injuries before and after non-surgical treatment. We found that treatment improved knee pain, range of motion, and muscle strength, and increased knee motion during walking. The reason for the smaller knee motion before treatment was to reduce the force that compresses the femur and the tibia. It was also found that the force compressing the patella was increased when the strength of the hip muscles, especially the gluteus medius muscles, was decreased. Excercise for hip joint may also be useful for patients with meniscal injuries who have pain around the patella.

Free Research Field

リハビリテーション科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

どういった特徴を持つ半月板損傷患者が手術を行わずに保存療法で症状が改善するか、手術療法と保存療法の選択基準は明らかになっていない。本研究は膝関節疾患の患者に対して股関節への介入を行う生体力学的なエビデンスを提供した点で学術的な意義がある。また、より具体的な保存療法の方針を示すことで手術療法を行う患者を減らし、将来的な医療費削減の一助となる知見を提供した点で社会的な意義があると考えられる。