AB1386-HPR FORCE SENSE EVALUATION OF THE KNEE JOINT FOLLOWING MENISCECTOMY RELATED WITH DEGENERATIVE MENISCAL TEAR
Authors: Cansu Gevrek, Gizem Irem Kinikli, Ahmet Ozgur Atay
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2019)

<h3>Background</h3> Meniscal tears are associated with degenerative knee disease, which can range from mild chondral changes not visible on a radiograph to established knee osteoarthritis. Meniscectomy related with degenerative meniscal tear may affect the force sense of the knee joint which is defined as the ability to accurately reproduce a given force. <h3>Objectives</h3> The aim of this study was to compare the force sense of the knee joint of the patients with degenerative meniscal tear following meniscectomy with healthy peers. <h3>Methods</h3> Fifteen patients with meniscectomy and 18 healthy aged matched individuals were included in this study. Evaluation of force sense in the knee joint was measured with the use of a pressure biofeedback device, sphygmomanometer, (<i>Stabilizer, TM, Chattanooga Group Inc., Chattanooga, TN</i>). The pressure bag of this device was placed under the knee joint. All subjects were instructed to extend the knee via Maximal Voluntary Isometric Contraction (MVIC) for 5 s. Each measurement was repeated three times with 1-min rest intervals and the average constant errors observed on the pressure biofeedback device were recorded as mmHg. Subjects were instructed to obtain at 50% of MVIC. They were asked to maintain the contraction (reproduce the target force) for 5 s. The reproduction force was subtracted from the target force to create a trial error score. Higher error scores indicated lower force sense. <i>Mann Whitney U test</i> was used for group comparisons. Statistical significance was defined as a p value &lt;0.05. <h3>Results</h3> There were no difference in terms of mean age, body mass index between patients (53.67.2 years, 26.21.8 kg/m<sup>2</sup>) and healthy peers (53.47.09 years, 25.83.2 kg/m<sup>2</sup>), respectively (p&gt;0.05). Lower accuracy of the knee extensors during the 50% MVIC task was significantly seen in patients with meniscectomy (5.422.07 mmHg) compared to healthy group (1.881.1 mmHg) (p&lt;0.001). <h3>Conclusion</h3> Results of this study demonstrated that higher force sense deficits are present in patients with meniscectomy related to degenerative meniscal tear compared to healthy peers. Thus, knee proprioceptive training focus on force sense might be developed to improve functional capabilities of knee joint especially following meniscectomy. It is also important to establish effective and feasible evaluation interventions for health professionals in clinical practice for assessing proprioception in terms of force sense in degenerative knees. <h3>References</h3> [1] Sihvonen, R., Paavolah, M,D., Malmivaara, A., Itl, A., Joukainen, A., Nurmi, H., Halske, J., Jrvinen T.L.N. (2013). Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy versus Sham Surgery for a Degenerative Meniscal Tear. The new england journal o f medicine, 369:2515-2524. [2] Jarraya, M., Roemer, F.W., Englund, M., Crema, M.D., Gale, H.I., Hayashi, D., Katz J,N,. Guermazi A. (2017). Meniscus morphology: Does tear type matter? A narrative review with focus on relevance for osteoarthritis research. Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism 46:552561. <h3>Disclosure of Interests</h3> None declared