Trial reportAnnals of the rheumatic diseases2015
A randomised trial of a brace for patellofemoral osteoarthritis targeting knee pain and bone marrow lesions.
Trial report in Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
77 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 158 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effectiveness of knee bracing in non-operative soft tissue and degenerative knee injuries: A systematic review.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2025Pooled it
- Consistency of advice for the conservative management of knee osteoarthritis across international clinical practice guidelines.Bone & joint open · 2025Pooled it
- The relationship between MRI-detected hip abnormalities and hip pain in hip osteoarthritis: a systematic review.Rheumatology international · 2024Pooled it
- Management of patellofemoral joint osteoarthritis using biomechanical device therapy: a systematic review with meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Valgus knee bracing may have no long-term effect on pain improvement and functional activity in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a meta-analysis of randomized trials.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2020Pooled it
- A systematic review of randomised controlled trials assessing effectiveness of prosthetic and orthotic interventions.PloS one · 2018Pooled it
- Effect of Foot Orthoses on Midfoot Pain and the Volume of Bone Marrow Lesions in the Midfoot: A Randomized Mechanism of Action Study.Arthritis care & research · 2026Trial
- Trial
- The Efficacy of a Lateral Wedge Insole for Painful Medial Knee Osteoarthritis After Prescreening: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2019Trial
- Clinic-Based Patellar Mobilization Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Annals of family medicine · 2018Trial
- The immediate effect of a soft knee brace on pain, activity limitations, self-reported knee instability, and self-reported knee confidence in patients with knee osteoarthritis.Arthritis research & therapy · 2017Trial
- With a biomechanical treatment in knee osteoarthritis, less knee pain did not correlate with synovitis reduction.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2017Trial
- Sensitivity to Change of Patient-Preference Measures for Pain in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: Data From Two Trials.Arthritis care & research · 2016Trial
- Early Patellofemoral Osteoarthritis Following ACL Reconstruction: A Narrative Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Accuracy in the Estimation of Self-Reported Knee Brace Wear Time in Young Adults With a Symptomatic Knee Following ACL Reconstruction: Secondary Analysis of a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologies · 2026Article
- Safety and Efficacy of Intra-articular Cell-Free Fat Extract Injection in Patients With Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Baseline loss of knee extension is associated with regional MRI progression in knee osteoarthritis: a retrospective longitudinal cohort study-data from the osteoarthritis initiative.Rheumatology international · 2025Article
- Measures of Patellofemoral Morphology Predict the Risk of Local Cartilage Damage Progression: A Yale/MOST Collaborative Study.The American journal of sports medicine · 2025Article
- Pain Assessment in Osteoarthritis: Present Practices and Future Prospects Including the Use of Biomarkers and Wearable Technologies, and AI-Driven Personalized Medicine.Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society · 2025Review
- Associations between the meniscal lesion parameters and knee joint structures and symptoms in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.Arthritis research & therapy · 2025Article
17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveBraces used to treat (PF) osteoarthritis (OA) may reduce contact stress across the PF joint. We hypothesised that in PF OA, braces would decrease knee pain and shrink PF bone marrow lesions (BMLs).
methodsEligible subjects had painful PF OA. Subjects were randomly allocated to brace or no brace for 6 weeks. Knee MRIs were acquired at baseline and 6 weeks. We measured BMLs on post-contrast fat suppressed sagittal and proton density weighted axial images. The primary symptom outcome was change in pain at 6 weeks during a preselected painful activity, and the primary structural outcome was BML volume change in the PF joint. Analyses used multiple linear regression.
resultsWe randomised 126 subjects aged 40-70 years (mean age 55.5 years; 72 females (57.1%)). Mean nominated visual analogue scale (0-10 cm) pain score at baseline was 6.5 cm. 94 knees (75%) had PF BMLs at baseline. Subjects wore the brace for a mean of 7.4 h/day. 6 subjects withdrew during the trial. After accounting for baseline values, the brace group had lower knee pain than the control group at 6 weeks (difference between groups -1.3 cm, 95% CI -2.0 to -0.7; p<0.001) and reduced PF BML volume (difference -490.6 mm(3), 95% CI -929.5 to -51.7; p=0.03) but not tibiofemoral volume (difference -53.9 mm(3), 95% CI -625.9 to 518.2; p=0.85).
conclusionsA PF brace reduces BML volume in the targeted compartment of the knee, and relieves knee pain. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: UK. ISRCTN50380458.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.