Single Stance Radiography of the Knee Joint - A Novel Approach to Assess the Degree of Knee Osteoarthritis

Introduction: Conventional radiography has always been cited as the gold standard for assessing the structural changes associated with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. The purpose of the study was to compare the joint space width between both leg-standing and one-leg-standing radiographs in an assessment of the severity of OA of the knee.

Materials and methods: Fifty patients with medial compartment OA were deployed for the study. Patients underwent both leg standing radiographs and one-leg standing radiograph on the affected leg. Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) radiographic classification was used to assess the severity of OA using joint space width.

Conclusion: The mean medial joint space width decreased from 3.26 mm in both legs of the standing radiograph to 1.98 mm in the one-leg standing radiograph. Patients on both leg standing radiographs appreciated an increase in grade during the single leg radiograph. Nearly 52% of patients with both leg standing radiographs have changed the KL grading to a more severe grade when undergone a single leg standing radiograph. One-leg standing radiograph was found to be a better representation of joint space width than both-leg standing radiographs.