New publication on the effect of femoral version and tibial torsion on patellofemoral joint loading in individuals with patellofemoral instability

Bernhard Guggenberger, a PhD student under the supervision of Dr Hans Kainz (University of Vienna) and Dr Martin Svehlik (Medical University of Graz), has published the second full-length paper from his PhD research.

This study, a collaboration between two Austrian institutions, aimed to investigate the effect of femoral version and tibial torsion on patellofemoral joint loading. The study shows that excessive tibial torsion can have a lateralising effect on the patellofemoral loading and thus destabilise the patellofemoral joint. In contrast to previous studies, femoral version did not show any correlation with patellofemoral loading. When individual tibial torsion was neglected, as in these previous studies, it was possible to replicate their results. Tibial torsion mainly affected the knee progression angle, whereas femoral version mainly altered the moment arms of the hip muscles.

The findings emphasise the importance of considering the whole individual morphological situation and the individual movement pattern when addressing patellofemoral joint loading in patellofemoral instability.

Link to the open access paper published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research: www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jor.26058