Properties of the iliotibial band and their relationships with gait parameters among patients with knee osteoarthritis

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the thickness and stiffness of the iliotibial band (ITB) in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and to identify the gait parameters that are associated with ITB properties. Eighteen female patients with radiographically diagnosed medial KOA and knee pain (age: 69.7 ± 5.9 years, body mass index: 23.0 ± 3.1 kg/m²) and 22 age-matched female individuals without knee pain (age: 69.1 ± 7.0 years, body mass index: 21.6 ± 3.6 kg/m²) were included. Shear wave elastography images were obtained at the height of the proximal pole of the patella with the participants in the supine position, and the ITB thickness and shear wave velocity, which is a surrogate measure of stiffness, were calculated. In patients with KOA, the knee and hip joint angles and moments during walking were calculated using a motion analysis system. The shear wave velocity was significantly higher in patients with KOA than in asymptomatic adults (11.3 ± 1.0 vs. 10.0 ± 1.8 m/s, respectively; p = 0.010); however, the thickness did not differ between them (2.1 ± 0.3 vs. 2.0 ± 0.3 mm, respectively; p = 0.705). The time-integral value of the knee adduction moment (β = 0.507, p = 0.032) and maximum value of the hip flexion moment (β = 0.498, p = 0.036) were associated with the shear wave velocity. Meanwhile, no parameters were associated with the thickness. The ITB was stiffer in patients with KOA than in asymptomatic adults; such a stiffer ITB was associated with greater knee adduction and hip flexion moments during walking. Clinical Significance: Greater mechanical loading was associated with a stiffer ITB in patients with KOA.