Evaluation of the hip joint contact force in subjects with Perthes based on OpenSIM

The head of femoral bone is deformed in the subjects with Leg Calve Perthes disease (LCPD). This may be due to the excessive loads applied on it. There are no studies that report the hip joint contact force in subjects with LCPD. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the hip joint contact force in subjects with Perthes disease. Ten typically-developing (TD) children and 10 children with LCPD were recruited in this study. The kinematics and kinetics of the subjects were evaluated in 3D motion analysis. The hip joint contact force was approximated using OpenSIM software. Differences were determined with an independent t-test. There was a significant difference between walking speed of TD and Perthes subjects (63.8 (±8.1) and 57.4 (±7.0) m/min, respectively). The first peak of hip joint contact force was 4.8 (±1.7) N/BW in Perthes subjects, compared to 7.6 (±2.5) N/BW in TD subjects (p = 0.004). The peak hip joint contact force in mediolateral and anteroposterior directions was significantly lower in Perthes subjects (p < 0.05). The hip joint excursion was 40.0 (±5.6) and 46.4 (±8.5) degrees in Perthes and normal subjects, respectively (p = 0.03). The hip joint contact forces were lower in the subjects with Perthes disease. Therefore, it can be concluded that the strategies used by LCPD subjects were successful to decrease hip joint contact force.