There is one clinical trial.
The Veteran population is prone to foot and ankle maladies from common injuries such as sprains, and diseases such as ankle osteoarthritis (cartilage damage). More specific to Veterans are prior service injuries of the foot and ankle, which historically account for nearly a quarter of injuries received. These injuries include bone fractures and ligament damage. Some of these injuries may lead to poor ankle joint alignment, which over time could lead to osteoarthritis due to abnormal wear on a day to day basis. The goal of this proposal is to use a novel technology - biplane fluoroscopy, to study the movement of ankles which are misaligned in subjects with ankle osteoarthritis. This proposal will also benefit current diagnostic methods with additional information. Last, this proposal will test the effectiveness of a conservative treatment (modified shoe insoles) to correct or reduce the misalignment in ankles. This proposal will create evidence about: the nature of ankle osteoarthritis, the accuracy of diagnosing alignment, and conservative treatment for patients with ankle OA.
Description: The 3D movement between the tibia and talus bones will be assessed using biplane fluoroscopy, for OA and control subjects during shod gait.
Measure: Tibio-talar kinematics during gait Time: 4 hour sessionDescription: The sensitivity to correctly diagnose dynamic misalignment by using static x-ray images, will be determined for the OA population.
Measure: Static ankle alignment sensitivity Time: 4 hour sessionDescription: The effect that wedged insoles have on varus / valgus misalignment will be assessed using dynamic 3D x-ray
Measure: Decrease in misalignment during gait using wedged insoles Time: 4 hour session