Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39832288›Full record

Trial reportActa orthopaedica2025

Unloader brace or high tibial osteotomy in the treatment of the young patient with medial knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.

Mark Stam, Joost Verschueren, Mark V Van Outeren, Reinoud W Brouwer, Robert D A Gaasbeek, Sorin G Blendea, Eline M Van Es, Max Reijman, Sita M A Bierma-Zeinstra, BvO-study group

Abstract readRandomized Controlled TrialMulticenter StudyComparative Study
In one paragraph

Trial report in Acta orthopaedica, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Mark StamDepartment of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre Rotterdam, the Netherlands.ORCID 0009-0000-8493-9928
Joost VerschuerenDepartment of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre Rotterdam; 2 Department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-4951-5158
Mark V Van OuterenDepartment of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Reinoud W BrouwerDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Martini Hospital, Groningen, the Netherlands.
Robert D A GaasbeekDepartment of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Meander Medical Center, Amersfoort, the Netherlands.
Sorin G BlendeaDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Franciscus Gasthuis & Vlietland Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Eline M Van EsDepartment of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre Rotterdam, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-5346-4237
Max ReijmanDepartment of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre Rotterdam, the Netherlands. m.reijman@erasmusmc.nl.ORCID 0000-0001-6316-9629
Sita M A Bierma-ZeinstraDepartment of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre Rotterdam; Department of General Practice, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-1280-5896
BvO-study group

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

background and purposeFor medial knee osteoarthritis (OA), operative and nonoperative treatment options are available. Two widely applied unloading therapies are a valgus unloader brace and a high tibial osteotomy (HTO). We aimed to compare the effects of a valgus unloader knee brace with an HTO on knee pain after 1 year in patients with symptomatic medial knee OA.

methodsWe recruited patients from 9 Dutch hospitals between August 2014 and February 2019 for an open-labeled multi-center randomized controlled trial (Dutch Trial Register NL4200). Patients aged 18 to 65 years with symptomatic medial compartmental knee OA were randomized to either a valgus unloader brace or an HTO. The primary outcome was the pain subscale of the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome score (KOOS) after 1 year. Patients were evaluated at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 months.

results51 patients were included in the study, of whom 23 were randomized to the unloader brace and 28 to the HTO. The HTO, compared with the unloader brace, showed a significant and clinically relevant difference at 12 months of follow-up in KOOS pain of -28 (95% confidence interval -43 to -13).

conclusionWe found that, on group level, an HTO is more effective in reducing knee pain than an unloader brace after 12 months.

Indexed as

BracesOsteoarthritis, KneeOsteotomyTibiaAdolescentAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPain MeasurementTreatment OutcomeYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID39832288
PMCPMC11747842

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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 Socratic graph.