Having stronger quadriceps may reduce the risk of total knee replacement.
- Knee arthroplasty involves replacing part or all of the joint with a prosthesis to restore mobility.
- A higher ratio of quadriceps to hamstring volume, or having muscular thighs, is associated with a lower risk of having knee surgery.
- This work suggests that thigh-strengthening training programs could be beneficial.
An arthroplasty is a surgical procedure that involves replacing part or all of a painful or non-functional joint with a prosthesis in order to restore its mobility. It can be performed for different joints. The most common are hip, shoulder and knee. In a recent studyresearchers from the University of California at San Francisco (United States) have shown that strengthening your thighs, by doing squats for example, could prevent you from having knee surgery.
The quadriceps and hamstrings, the most important muscle groups in the knee
To reach this conclusion, scientists evaluated the muscle volume of the thigh in 134 people suffering from arthritis. They then compared the data from the 67 adults who had total knee replacements with those from the 67 healthy volunteers.
As part of the research, they focused on the quadriceps and hamstrings. As a reminder, the quadriceps constitute the most powerful muscle group in the body and have an essential influence on gait. The hamstrings, located at the back of the thigh, are responsible for hip extension and knee flexion, which also makes them essential for physical activity.
“The two muscle groups act as opposing forces, and the balance between them allows for a wide range of activities while protecting the knee joint. An imbalance, coupled with other factors, results in a change in biomechanics resulting in the progression of osteoarthritis”, explained Upasana Upadhyay Bharadwaj, lead author of the work.
Knee arthroplasty: having muscular thighs reduces the risk
According to the results, presented during the Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), a higher ratio of quadriceps to hamstring volume was significantly associated with a lower risk of total knee arthroplasty. Higher volumes of the hamstring and gracilis, a long, thin muscle located on the inner thigh, were also linked to lower risks of having knee surgery.
“Although these results are essential for targeted therapy in a population at risk of osteoarthritis, even the general public can take our results into account to preventively integrate appropriate strengthening exercises,” concluded Dr. Upadhyay Bharadwaj.
