Viscoelastic properties of human collateral knee ligaments are related and altered in osteoarthritis

Purpose (the aim of the study):

The medial (MCL) and lateral (LCL) collateral ligaments provide extraarticular stability to the knee joint. Considering osteoarthritis (OA) is a whole joint disease, pathological changes may also manifest in ligaments, affecting dynamic knee function. The effects of OA on collateral ligament mechanics have only been assessed during failure testing, finding the LCL fails at lower stresses in worse stages of OA. However, ligaments rarely fail during activities of daily life (e.g., walking); thus, other mechanical properties (i.e., viscoelasticity) may have more relevance in OA. Deterioration in such ligament properties may induce or be related to suboptimal joint loading that could cause or exacerbate intraarticular degeneration. Thus, our objective was to assess MCL and LCL viscoelastic properties in knees of varying OA severity.