ArticleOsteoarthritis and cartilage open2026
Valgus bracing can relocate cartilage contact pressure away from bone marrow lesions and full-thickness cartilage defects in varus-malaligned medial knee osteoarthritis.
Article in Osteoarthritis and cartilage open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: To examine whether valgus bracing reduces cartilage contact pressure atop structural sources of weight-bearing pain in varus-malaligned medial knee osteoarthritis. Design: An exploratory secondary analysis of a within-participant longitudinal study involving an 8-week valgus brace intervention. Methods: Baseline biomechanical data and 8-week change scores in the KOOS pain subscale from participants with ≥1 bone marrow lesion (BML) on the medial tibia were analysed (n = 21). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assessed medial tibial BMLs and full-thickness cartilage defects. A 12 degree-of-freedom MRI-informed knee neuromusculoskeletal model quantified cartilage pressure exerted atop BMLs and cartilage defects. Peak pressure magnitude (MPa) atop BMLs and defects was compared between braced and unbraced walking using paired t-tests. Responder rate (did/did not reduce pressure atop BMLs/defects, and ≥MCID KOOS pain) was examined using Fisher's exact test. Results: Cartilage contact pressure was exerted atop BML(s) during unbraced walking for 15 of 21 (71%) participants; and in 9 of 11 (82%) participants who had cartilage defects. Braced walking reduced peak magnitude pressure atop BMLs by 13% (-1.2 MPa [95%CI -2.0, -0.4], p = 0.008) and defects by 18% (-1.9 MPa [95%CI -3.3, -0.5], p = 0.013). Participants who reduced peak pressure atop a BML and/or cartilage defect were more likely to exceed the KOOS MCID than those who did not (risk difference: 60 percentage points [95%CI 17, 84], p = 0.011). Conclusions: Valgus bracing reduced cartilage contact pressure atop BMLs and defects among those who loaded these lesions. This biomechanical response was associated with a pain improvement, a hypothesis-generating finding that warrants further examination.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.