Patello-femoral pain: Is the A-angle a Clinically Useful Measurement?

The A-angle has been proposed as a sensitive quantitative measure of patello-femoral joint alignment. In order to investigate this claim a prospective randomised study using a ‘blinded’ goniometer was performed. The first part of the study investigated the intra-and inter-therapist reliability of ta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physiotherapy 1996, Vol.82 (5), p.324-330
Main Authors: Selfe, James, Gillard, DoreenLouise, Marshall, Sophia Caroline
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
A-angle
alignment
Biological and medical sciences
Diseases of the osteoarticular system. Orthopedic treatment
goniometer
measurement
Medical sciences
patello-femoral pain
Radiotherapy. Instrumental treatment. Physiotherapy. Reeducation. Rehabilitation, orthophony, crenotherapy. Diet therapy and various other treatments (general aspects)
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Summary:The A-angle has been proposed as a sensitive quantitative measure of patello-femoral joint alignment. In order to investigate this claim a prospective randomised study using a ‘blinded’ goniometer was performed. The first part of the study investigated the intra-and inter-therapist reliability of taking A-angle measurements on a group of six healthy volunteers. The second part of the study investigated whether A-angle measurements changed during a course of conservative treatment and whether A-angle measurements were different when comparing affected versus unaffected legs in a group of 41 patients. The reliability of measuring the A-angle was found to be very low. This prevents definitive conclusions from being made from the patient study. A number of problems associated with trying to incorporate research activity of this type into a normal clinical schedule were identified. The final conclusion is that these authors would not recommend the use of A-angle measurements clinically, due to their low reliability.
ISSN:0031-9406
1873-1465
DOI:10.1016/S0031-9406(05)66869-1