Chen QQ, Liu Y, Yang JH, Yang B. Postural correction training improves chronic pain, nerve function, and inflammation in knee osteoarthritis: A retrospective cohort study. World J Orthop 2025; 16(8): 110332 [DOI: 10.5312/wjo.v16.i8.110332]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Bo Yang, Associate Chief Physician, Dean, Department of Orthopedics, Haian Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, No. 55 Ninghai Middle Road, Nantong 226600, Jiangsu Province, China. yangbo_12138@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Orthopedics
Article-Type of This Article
Retrospective Cohort Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Orthop. Aug 18, 2025; 16(8): 110332 Published online Aug 18, 2025. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v16.i8.110332
Postural correction training improves chronic pain, nerve function, and inflammation in knee osteoarthritis: A retrospective cohort study
Qing-Qing Chen, Yang Liu, Ju-Hui Yang, Bo Yang
Qing-Qing Chen, Bo Yang, Department of Orthopedics, Haian Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nantong 226600, Jiangsu Province, China
Yang Liu, Department of Clinical Nutrition, Haian Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nantong 226600, Jiangsu Province, China
Ju-Hui Yang, Department of Emergency, Haian Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nantong 226600, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Qing-Qing Chen and Yang Liu.
Author contributions: Chen QQ, Liu Y and Yang B conceived and designed the study; Chen QQ performed the literature search; Yang JH and Chen QQ acquired data and drafted the manuscript; Liu Y assisted in revising the manuscript. Yang B and Yang JH wrote the original draft; Chen QQ wrote, reviewed and edited the manuscript; Yang B and Chen QQ ensured the authenticity of all the raw data. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript. Chen QQ and Liu Y contributed equally to this work as co-first authors.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Haian Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine (HZYLL2022061).
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from patients or their guardians.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declared that they have no conflicts of interest regarding this work.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: Data are provided within the manuscript or supplementary information files.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Bo Yang, Associate Chief Physician, Dean, Department of Orthopedics, Haian Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, No. 55 Ninghai Middle Road, Nantong 226600, Jiangsu Province, China. yangbo_12138@163.com
Received: June 6, 2025 Revised: June 21, 2025 Accepted: July 15, 2025 Published online: August 18, 2025 Processing time: 65 Days and 7.6 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This retrospective analysis demonstrated that postural correction training (PCT) combined with conventional treatment significantly improves outcomes in knee osteoarthritis (KOA) beyond pain relief. This intervention uniquely reduced neurological impairment (measured by the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale) and key inflammatory biomarkers (interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, C-reactive protein) compared to conventional treatment alone. Crucially, joint effusion, advanced Kellgren-Lawrence stage (III-IV), and > 5° flexion contracture were identified as independent risk factors for treatment failure. Conversely, PCT served as a protective factor against inefficacy. These findings position mechanical alignment correction as a disease-modifying strategy addressing neuro-inflammatory mechanisms in KOA.
