Effect of Knee Pain on Walking Biomechanics

NCT ID: NCT05670236

Last Updated: 2025-10-29

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: PHASE4
• Total Enrollment: 55 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-01-25
• Study Completion Date: 2024-07-19

Brief Summary

The goal of this study is to determine if pain in one knee influences loading of the other knee during different types of walking. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• How does unilateral knee pain affect contralateral knee joint loading during different types of walking?
• Does movement and loading change at the hips, knees, and ankles during prolonged walking in persons with painful knee osteoarthritis?

Participants will:

• Fill out questionnaires/surveys
• Complete clinical examinations
• Walking on a treadmill under different types of walking conditions
• Receive two knee injections For comparison purposes, researchers will also enroll healthy participants.

Detailed Description

This study will evaluate the effects of unilateral knee pain on contralateral knee joint loading during different types of walking. Thirty adults with unilateral symptomatic knee osteoarthritis will complete four, 1.5-hour study visits. The first and third visits will include level, inclined, and declined walking at comfortable, fast, and slow speeds. The second and fourth visits will include a 30-minute walk. There will be at least two days between visits. The only difference between each pair of visits is that one visit will involve walking with unilateral knee pain (painful walking) and the other visit will involve walking without unilateral knee pain (nonpainful walking). Individuals will be recruited based on the presence of unilateral knee pain so the painful walking will be representative of their typical walking. For the visits with nonpainful walking, the third and fourth visits, pain will be alleviated by performing an intraarticular injection with a local anesthetic (lidocaine hydrochloride). All walking will be performed in a three-dimensional motion capture environment on a split-belt treadmill that is instrumented with force plates.

A cohort of 30 healthy individuals will complete the same walking conditions at two, 1.5-hour study visits. The healthy control group will not receive intraarticular knee injections. The purpose of this cohort is to better understand how walking mechanics in individuals with unilateral knee osteoarthritis compare to similar individuals without knee osteoarthritis.

Conditions

Osteoarthritis, Knee

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NON_RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: OTHER
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Knee Osteoarthritis

Individuals with clinically defined unilateral symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Lidocaine Hydrochloride

Intervention Type: DRUG

10 mL of 1% lidocaine hydrochloride for each intraarticular knee injection

Healthy

Individuals who serve as healthy controls.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Lidocaine Hydrochloride

10 mL of 1% lidocaine hydrochloride for each intraarticular knee injection

Intervention Type: DRUG

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• At least 45 years old
• Unilateral knee pain with walking that averages at least 3 out of 10 on a numeric pain rating scale
• Unilateral knee stiffness that lasts less than 30 minutes after periods of inactivity
• Unilateral symptoms on most days for at least the past 3 months

• At least 45 years old
• No lower body pain or injury within the past 6 months

Exclusion Criteria

• History of knee replacement surgery
• Opiate use within the past 3 months
• Narcotic use within the past 3 months
• Known medical condition that affects walking mechanics, besides knee osteoarthritis
• Known medical condition that affects pain perception
• Inability to walk for 30 minutes without using an assistive device
• Body weight greater than 300 pounds
• Known allergy to adhesives
• High risk for a cardiovascular event
• Currently pregnant
• Anticoagulant use within the past 3 months
• Intraarticular knee injection within the past 3 months
• Known history of hypersensitivity to local anesthetics of the amide type
• History of lower body pain or injury, besides knee osteoarthritis, within the past 6 months

• History of knee replacement surgery
• Opiate use within the past 3 months
• Narcotic use within the past 3 months
• Known medical condition that affects walking mechanics
• Known medical condition that affects pain perception
• Inability to walk for 30 minutes without using an assistive device
• Body weight greater than 300 pounds
• Known allergy to adhesives
• High risk for a cardiovascular event
• Currently pregnant

• Minimum Eligible Age: 45 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

The Cleveland Clinic

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Daniel Corrigan

Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Patrick Corrigan, DPT, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

The Cleveland Clinic

Locations

Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Countries

United States

Provided Documents

Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Document Type: Informed Consent Form

View Document

Other Identifiers

32283

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id