Physiotherapy - Research Publications

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    Patellar cartilage increase following ACL reconstruction with and without meniscal pathology: a two-year prospective MRI morphological study
    Wang, X ; Bennell, KL ; Wang, Y ; Fortin, K ; Saxby, DJ ; Killen, BA ; Wrigley, T ; Cicuttini, FM ; Van Ginckel, A ; Lloyd, DG ; Feller, JA ; Vertullo, CJ ; Whitehead, T ; Gallie, P ; Bryant, AL (BMC, 2021-10-28)
    BACKGROUND: Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) together with concomitant meniscal injury are risk factors for the development of tibiofemoral (TF) osteoarthritis (OA), but the potential effect on the patellofemoral (PF) joint is unclear. The aim of this study was to: (i) investigate change in patellar cartilage morphology in individuals 2.5 to 4.5 years after ACLR with or without concomitant meniscal pathology and in healthy controls, and (ii) examine the association between baseline patellar cartilage defects and patellar cartilage volume change. METHODS: Thirty two isolated ACLR participants, 25 ACLR participants with combined meniscal pathology and nine healthy controls underwent knee magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with 2-year intervals (baseline = 2.5 years post-ACLR). Patellar cartilage volume and cartilage defects were assessed from MRI using validated methods. RESULTS: Both ACLR groups showed patellar cartilage volume increased over 2 years (p < 0.05), and isolated ACLR group had greater annual percentage cartilage volume increase compared with controls (mean difference 3.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0, 6.3%, p = 0.008) and combined ACLR group (mean difference 2.2, 95% CI 0.2, 4.2%, p = 0.028). Patellar cartilage defects regressed in the isolated ACLR group over 2 years (p = 0.02; Z = - 2.33; r = 0.3). Baseline patellar cartilage defect score was positively associated with annual percentage cartilage volume increase (Regression coefficient B = 0.014; 95% CI 0.001, 0.027; p = 0.03) in the pooled ACLR participants. CONCLUSIONS: Hypertrophic response was evident in the patellar cartilage of ACLR participants with and without meniscal pathology. Surprisingly, the increase in patellar cartilage volume was more pronounced in those with isolated ACLR. Although cartilage defects stabilised in the majority of ACLR participants, the severity of patellar cartilage defects at baseline influenced the magnitude of the cartilage hypertrophic response over the subsequent ~ 2 years.
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    Frontal plane hip joint loading according to pain severity in people with hip osteoarthritis
    Hall, M ; Allison, K ; Wrigley, TV ; Metcalf, BR ; Pua, Y-H ; Van Ginckel, A ; Bennell, KL (WILEY, 2018-06)
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    Hip abductor muscle activity during walking in individuals with gluteal tendinopathy
    Allison, K ; Salomoni, SE ; Bennell, KL ; Wrigley, TV ; Hug, F ; Vicenzino, B ; Grimaldi, A ; Hodges, PW (WILEY, 2018-02)
    The external hip adduction moment during walking is greater in individuals with gluteal tendinopathy (GT) than pain-free controls. Although this likely represents a greater demand on the hip abductor muscles implicated in GT, no study has investigated activation of these muscles in GT. For this purpose, fine wire electrodes were inserted into the segments of the gluteus minimus and medius muscles, and surface electrodes placed on the tensor fascia lata, upper gluteus maximus, and vastus lateralis muscles of eight individuals with, and eight without, GT. Participants underwent six walking trials. Individual muscle patterns were compared between groups using a wavelet-based linear effects model and muscle synergy analysis performed using non-negative matrix factorization to evaluate muscle activation patterns, within- and between-participant variability. Compared to controls, individuals with GT exhibited a more sustained initial burst of the posterior gluteus minimus and middle gluteus medius muscle segments. Two muscle synergies were identified; Synergy-1 activated in early-mid stance and Synergy-2 in early stance. In GT participants, posterior gluteus minimus and posterior gluteus medius and tensor fascia lata contributed more to Synergy-1 active during the period of single leg support. Participants with GT exhibited reduced within-participant variability of posterior gluteus medius and reduced between-participant variability of anterior gluteus minimus and medius and upper gluteus maximus. In conclusion, individuals with GT exhibit modified muscle activation patterns of the hip abductor muscles during walking, with potential relevance for gluteal tendon loading.
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    Coordination of deep hip muscle activity is altered in symptomatic femoroacetabular impingement
    Diamond, LE ; Van den Hoorn, W ; Bennell, KL ; Wrigley, TV ; Hinman, RS ; O'Donnell, J ; Hodges, PW (WILEY, 2017-07)
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    Effect of exercise on knee joint contact forces in people following medial partial meniscectomy: A secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial
    Starkey, SC ; Lenton, GK ; Saxby, DJ ; Hinman, RS ; Bennell, KL ; Wrigley, T ; Lloyd, D ; Hall, M (ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD, 2020-06)
    BACKGROUND: Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy may cause knee osteoarthritis, which may be related to altered joint loading. Previous research has failed to demonstrate that exercise can reduce medial compartment knee loads following meniscectomy but has not considered muscular loading in their estimates. RESEARCH QUESTION: What is the effect of exercise compared to no intervention on peak medial tibiofemoral joint contact force during walking using an electromyogram-driven neuromusculoskeletal model, following medial arthroscopic partial meniscectomy? METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial (RCT). 41 participants aged between 30-50 years with medial arthroscopic partial meniscectomy within the past 3-12 months, were randomly allocated to either a 12-week, home-based, physiotherapist-guided exercise program or to no exercise (control group). Three-dimensional lower-body motion, ground reaction forces, and surface electromyograms from eight lower-limb muscles were acquired during self-selected normal- and fast-paced walking at baseline and follow-up. An electromyogram-driven neuromusculoskeletal model estimated medial compartment contact forces (body weight). Linear regression models evaluated between-group differences (mean difference (95% CI)). RESULTS: There were no significant between-group differences in the change (follow-up minus baseline) in first peak medial contact force during self-selected normal- or fast-paced walking (0.07 (-0.08 to 0.23), P = 0.34 and 0.01 (-0.19 to 0.22), P = 0.89 respectively). No significant between-group difference was found for change in second peak medial contact force during normal- or fast-paced walking (0.09 (-0.09 to 0.28), P = 0.31 and 0.02 (-0.17 to 0.22), P = 0.81 respectively). At the individual level, variability was observed for changes in first (range -26.2% to +31.7%) and second (range -46.5% to +59.9%) peak tibiofemoral contact force. SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first study to apply electromyogram-driven neuromusculoskeletal modelling to an exercise intervention in a RCT. While our results suggest that a 12-week exercise program does not alter peak medial knee loads after meniscectomy, within-participant variability suggests individual-specific muscle activation patterns that warrant further investigation.
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    Cartilage quantitative T2 relaxation time 2-4 years following isolated anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction
    Wang, X ; Wrigley, TV ; Bennell, KL ; Wang, Y ; Fortin, K ; Cicuttini, FM ; Lloyd, DG ; Bryant, AL (WILEY, 2018-07)
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    Hip joint kinematics and segment coordination variability according to pain and structural disease severity in hip osteoarthritis
    Hall, M ; Fox, A ; Bonacci, J ; Metcalf, BR ; Pua, YH ; Diamond, LE ; Allison, K ; Wrigley, T ; Bennell, KL (WILEY, 2020-08)
    This study aimed to evaluate hip joint kinematic variability and segment coordination variability during walking according to pain and radiographic disease severity in people with hip osteoarthritis. Fifty-five participants with hip osteoarthritis had pain severity assessed during walking using an item on the Western Ontario and McMasters Universities Osteoarthritis Index (no pain = 10; mild pain = 28; moderate pain = 17). Radiographic disease severity was graded by Kellgren and Lawrence scale (KL2 = 29; KL3 = 21; KL4 = 5). Hip kinematics variability was estimated as the curve coefficient of variation. Vector coding was used to calculate coordination variability for select joint couplings. One-way analysis of variances with planned adjusted post hoc comparisons were used to compare hip kinematics variability and coordination variability of select segment couplings (pelvis sagittal vs thigh sagittal; pelvis frontal vs thigh frontal; pelvis transverse vs thigh transverse; thigh sagittal vs shank sagittal; thigh frontal vs shank sagittal; thigh transverse vs shank sagittal) according to pain and radiographic disease severity. No main effect of pain severity was observed for sagittal or transverse plane hip kinematic variability (P ≥ .266), and although there was a main effect for frontal plane hip kinematic variability (P = .035), there were no significant differences when comparing between levels of pain severity (P > .006). There was no main effect of radiographic disease severity on hip kinematic variability in the sagittal (P = .539) or frontal (P = .307) plane. No significant differences in coordination of variability of segment couplings were observed (all P ≥ .229). Movement variability as assessed in this study did not differ according to pain severity during walking or radiographic disease severity.
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    Organisation of the motor cortex differs between people with and without knee osteoarthritis
    Shanahan, CJ ; Hodges, PW ; Wrigley, TV ; Bennell, KL ; Farrell, MJ (BIOMED CENTRAL LTD, 2015-06-18)
    INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to investigate possible differences in the organisation of the motor cortex in people with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and whether there is an association between cortical organisation and accuracy of a motor task. METHODS: fMRI data were collected while 11 participants with moderate/severe right knee OA (6 male, 69 ± 6 (mean ± SD) years) and seven asymptomatic controls (5 male, 64 ± 6 years) performed three visually guided, variable force, force matching motor tasks involving isolated isometric muscle contractions of: 1) quadriceps (knee), 2) tibialis anterior (ankle) and, 3) finger/thumb flexor (hand) muscles. fMRI data were used to map the loci of peak activation in the motor cortex during the three tasks and to assess whether there were differences in the organisation of the motor cortex between the groups for the three motor tasks. Root mean square of the difference between target and generated forces during muscle contraction quantified task accuracy. RESULTS: A 4.1 mm anterior shift in the representation of the knee (p = 0.03) and swap of the relative position of the knee and ankle representations in the motor cortex (p = 0.003) were found in people with knee OA. Poorer performance of the knee task was associated with more anterior placement of motor cortex loci in people with (p = 0.05) and without (p = 0.02) knee OA. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in the organisation of the motor cortex in knee OA was demonstrated in relation to performance of knee and ankle motor tasks and was related to quality of performance of the knee motor task. These results highlight the possible mechanistic link between cortical changes and modified motor behavior in people with knee OA.
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    Relationships Between Tibiofemoral Contact Forces and Cartilage Morphology at 2 to 3 Years After Single-Bundle Hamstring Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction and in Healthy Knees
    Saxby, DJ ; Bryant, AL ; Wang, X ; Modenese, L ; Gerus, P ; Konrath, JM ; Bennell, KL ; Fortin, K ; Wrigley, T ; Cicuttini, FM ; Vertullo, CJ ; Feller, JA ; Whitehead, T ; Gallie, P ; Lloyd, DG (SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 2017-08-31)
    BACKGROUND: Prevention of knee osteoarthritis (OA) following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture and reconstruction is vital. Risk of postreconstruction knee OA is markedly increased by concurrent meniscal injury. It is unclear whether reconstruction results in normal relationships between tibiofemoral contact forces and cartilage morphology and whether meniscal injury modulates these relationships. HYPOTHESES: Since patients with isolated reconstructions (ie, without meniscal injury) are at lower risk for knee OA, we predicted that relationships between tibiofemoral contact forces and cartilage morphology would be similar to those of normal, healthy knees 2 to 3 years postreconstruction. In knees with meniscal injuries, these relationships would be similar to those reported in patients with knee OA, reflecting early degenerative changes. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: Three groups were examined: (1) 62 patients who received single-bundle hamstring reconstruction with an intact, uninjured meniscus (mean age, 29.8 ± 6.4 years; mean weight, 74.9 ± 13.3 kg); (2) 38 patients with similar reconstruction with additional meniscal injury (ie, tear, repair) or partial resection (mean age, 30.6 ± 6.6 years; mean weight, 83.3 ± 14.3 kg); and (3) 30 ligament-normal, healthy individuals (mean age, 28.3 ± 5.2 years; mean weight, 74.9 ± 14.9 kg) serving as controls. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging to measure the medial and lateral tibial articular cartilage morphology (volumes and thicknesses). An electromyography-driven neuromusculoskeletal model determined medial and lateral tibiofemoral contact forces during walking. General linear models were used to assess relationships between tibiofemoral contact forces and cartilage morphology. RESULTS: In control knees, cartilage was thicker compared with that of isolated and meniscal-injured ACL-reconstructed knees, while greater contact forces were related to both greater tibial cartilage volumes (medial: R2 = 0.43, β = 0.62, P = .000; lateral: R2 = 0.19, β = 0.46, P = .03) and medial thicknesses (R2 = 0.24, β = 0.48, P = .01). In the overall group of ACL-reconstructed knees, greater contact forces were related to greater lateral cartilage volumes (R2 = 0.08, β = 0.28, P = .01). In ACL-reconstructed knees with lateral meniscal injury, greater lateral contact forces were related to greater lateral cartilage volumes (R2 = 0.41, β = 0.64, P = .001) and thicknesses (R2 = 0.20, β = 0.46, P = .04). CONCLUSION: At 2 to 3 years postsurgery, ACL-reconstructed knees had thinner cartilage compared with healthy knees, and there were no positive relationships between medial contact forces and cartilage morphology. In lateral meniscal-injured reconstructed knees, greater contact forces were related to greater lateral cartilage volumes and thicknesses, although it was unclear whether this was an adaptive response or associated with degeneration. Future clinical studies may seek to establish whether cartilage morphology can be modified through rehabilitation programs targeting contact forces directly in addition to the current rehabilitation foci of restoring passive and dynamic knee range of motion, knee strength, and functional performance.
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    Protocol for a multi-centre randomised controlled trial comparing arthroscopic hip surgery to physiotherapy-led care for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI): the Australian FASHIoN trial
    Murphy, NJ ; Eyles, J ; Bennell, KL ; Bohensky, M ; Burns, A ; Callaghan, FM ; Dickenson, E ; Fary, C ; Grieve, SM ; Griffin, DR ; Hall, M ; Hobson, R ; Kim, YJ ; Linklater, JM ; Lloyd, DG ; Molnar, R ; O'Connell, RL ; O'Donnell, J ; O'Sullivan, M ; Randhawa, S ; Reichenbach, S ; Saxby, DJ ; Singh, P ; Spiers, L ; Phong, T ; Wrigley, TV ; Hunter, DJ (BIOMED CENTRAL LTD, 2017-09-26)
    BACKGROUND: Femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAI), a hip disorder affecting active young adults, is believed to be a leading cause of hip osteoarthritis (OA). Current management approaches for FAI include arthroscopic hip surgery and physiotherapy-led non-surgical care; however, there is a paucity of clinical trial evidence comparing these approaches. In particular, it is unknown whether these management approaches modify the future risk of developing hip OA. The primary objective of this randomised controlled trial is to determine if participants with FAI who undergo hip arthroscopy have greater improvements in hip cartilage health, as demonstrated by changes in delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of cartilage (dGEMRIC) index between baseline and 12 months, compared to those who undergo physiotherapy-led non-surgical management. METHODS: This is a pragmatic, multi-centre, two-arm superiority randomised controlled trial comparing hip arthroscopy to physiotherapy-led management for FAI. A total of 140 participants with FAI will be recruited from the clinics of participating orthopaedic surgeons, and randomly allocated to receive either surgery or physiotherapy-led non-surgical care. The surgical intervention involves arthroscopic FAI surgery from one of eight orthopaedic surgeons specialising in this field, located in three different Australian cities. The physiotherapy-led non-surgical management is an individualised physiotherapy program, named Personalised Hip Therapy (PHT), developed by a panel to represent the best non-operative care for FAI. It entails at least six individual physiotherapy sessions over 12 weeks, and up to ten sessions over six months, provided by experienced musculoskeletal physiotherapists trained to deliver the PHT program. The primary outcome measure is the change in dGEMRIC score of a ROI containing both acetabular and femoral head cartilages at the chondrolabral transitional zone of the mid-sagittal plane between baseline and 12 months. Secondary outcomes include patient-reported outcomes and several structural and biomechanical measures relevant to the pathogenesis of FAI and development of hip OA. Interventions will be compared by intention-to-treat analysis. DISCUSSION: The findings will help determine whether hip arthroscopy or an individualised physiotherapy program is superior for the management of FAI, including for the prevention of hip OA. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry reference: ACTRN12615001177549 . Trial registered 2/11/2015 (retrospectively registered).