Objectives: Patients suffering from mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis may be treated with unloader knee orthoses or laterally wedged insoles. The aim of this study was to identify and compare the effects of two orthoses in these patients.

Methods: 56 patients with medial compartment knee OA were evaluated when wearing an unloader knee orthosis and insoles with a 6° lateral wedge which were randomly assigned. Testing was performed at baseline and after 6 months of use with the two types of orthoses. The KOOS score was used to assess outcomes in this study. A paired T test was used for comparing base line and the 6th month post interventions KOOS sub scale score. An independent T test was used for analyzing the efficacy between the two orthoses.

Results: Each of the interventions improved all parameters compared to the baseline condition (P=0.000). However, in comparing the effect between these orthoses, we did not find significant differences in activities of daily living (P=0.871), or sports and recreational activities (P=0.351). The pain and symptoms (P=0.000) were, however, significantly different between the two interventions.

Discussion: The unloader knee orthoses were more effective than lateral wedge insoles in reducing pain and symptoms.