Knee Ligament Stiffness Across Ethnicities Before and After Osteoarthritis Treatment

Overview

This prospective clinical study aims to establish normative values of knee ligament stiffness across different ethnic populations using shear wave elastography (SWE) and to investigate biomechanical alterations associated with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Healthy adults and patients with symptomatic knee OA will undergo standardized SWE examinations of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), medial collateral ligament (MCL), and lateral collateral ligament (LCL), together with clinical assessments. For patients who subsequently receive clinically indicated ultrasound-guided injection therapy, follow-up SWE and clinical evaluations will be performed to investigate changes in ligament stiffness after treatment.

Knee osteoarthritis is increasingly recognized as a whole-joint disease involving not only articular cartilage but also periarticular soft tissues, including the cruciate and collateral ligaments. Although ultrasound elastography has been widely applied to musculoskeletal tissues, normative biomechanical data for knee ligaments remain limited, and the influence of osteoarthritis on ligament stiffness has not been fully characterized. The primary objective of this study is to establish normative shear wave elastography values for the ACL, PCL, MCL, and LCL across different age groups and ethnic populations and to determine their associations with demographic characteristics, body composition, and limb dominance. A secondary objective is to compare ligament stiffness between healthy individuals and patients with radiographic knee osteoarthritis. Participants will undergo standardized ultrasound examinations, SWE measurements, physical examinations, pain assessment using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and functional assessment using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis will initially receive conservative treatment according to routine clinical practice. Those who subsequently undergo clinically indicated ultrasound-guided injection therapy, including corticosteroid, hypertonic dextrose prolotherapy, or platelet-rich plasma (PRP), will receive repeat clinical and SWE evaluations after completion of treatment to investigate longitudinal changes in ligament biomechanical properties. The study will also assess measurement reliability through intra- and inter-rater analyses.