変形性膝関節症患者に対するベルト型サポーターの装着―緊張度と治療効果の検討

Belt-Type Knee Sleeves for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis of the Knee. The Effect of Tension

　変形性膝関節症(膝OA)に対するベルト型サポーターはきつく巻いたほうが効果的か緩く巻いたほうが効果的であるかを検討した．51例の膝OA患者を無作為に大腿および下腿周囲径の75％の長さでサポーターを巻く群(75％長群)，85％で巻く群(85％長群)と患者の好みの長さで巻く群(自由群)に分類し，Lequesne重症度指数の治療前後での変化を評価した．その結果，75％長群では治療前後での有意差があったが，85％長群や自由群では有意差はなかった．サポーターの作用機序の一つは固有知覚の改善であるため，75％長群が優れていた可能性があると考察した．

　In this study we investigated the optimal tension of knee bandages for patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee.　Fifty-one patients were randomly divided into groups that wore knee bandages that were 75% or 85% of the sum of the patients' thigh and calf girth or the length the patient preferred.　Five patients withdrew from the study.　At the 4-week assessment, the group that wore the “75%” bandages (n＝15) had a significantly lower Lequesne index (P＝0.001) than at the baseline.　No significant differences were found in the group that wore the “85%” bandages (n＝15) or the group that wore their preferred length (n＝16) bandages.　There have been reports that the application of a knee bandage improved the proprioceptive acuity of patients with OA of the knee.　The results of this study suggested that a bandage slightly shorter than the standard length might be more effective in improving proprioceptive acuity.