Lower limb kinematics improvement after genicular nerve blockade in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a milestone study using inertial sensors

Genicular nerve blockade is a possible treatment for patients with knee osteoarthritis. Pain relief and improvement in functioning is expected. This procedure could be of major interest for patients in low-income countries where total knee arthroplasty is not available for the population. This study aims at assessing the immediate benefits on pain, gait, and stairs kinematics after a genicular nerve blockade in patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis in Cameroun. A prospective study was carried out on 26 subjects in Cameroun. A genicular nerve blockade was performed on 14 women with painful knee osteoarthritis grade 2-4. Lower limb joint angles were recorded with inertial sensors before and 1 h after injection. Patient-reported outcomes of pain and perceived difficulty were collected, as well as 10 m and 6 min walking tests. A reliability analysis of inertial sensors was performed on a sample of 12 healthy subjects by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient and the standard error of measurement. Pain and perceived difficulty decreased significantly (p