Secondary motions of the knee during weight bearing and non‐weight bearing activities

The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that during a weight bearing activity such as walking, a dynamic range (envelope of motion) exists in the relationship between the secondary knee motions (anterior-posterior (AP) translation, internal-external (IE) rotation, and abduction-adduction (Ab-Adduction)) and knee flexion angle. In addition differences in the envelope of motion between a weight bearing and non-weight bearing activity were tested. The hypothesis was evaluated by testing for differences (offsets) in secondary displacements at specific knee flexion angles during the walking cycle and seated leg extension (non-weight bearing). Kinematic measurements were obtained using a previously developed point cluster technique to analyze the six-degrees of freedom movement of the knee. During walking, phase plots of the IE rotation and AP translation versus knee flexion demonstrated significant offsets from one phase of the gait cycle to another at the same flexion angle. During the non-weight bearing activity, no significant offset in the secondary movement was found; the knee followed the same pathway of motion during the flexion and extension phase of this activity. The characteristics of the secondary motions during walking indicated that secondary knee movements are caused by the external forces (muscle, inertial and gravitational) that act on the knee during the various phases of the walking cycle. The boundaries of the envelope appear to reflect the characteristics of the passive restraints. The weight bearing secondary motion AP and IE rotation seen during a walking activity demonstrated an envelope of dynamic laxity that could potentially be used to evaluate functional instabilities at the knee.