Journal Article Epublish 1 citation
PubMed: 39860450 DOI: 10.3390/jcm14020444
Gait Analysis in Patients After Hemiepiphysiodesis Due to Valgus or Varus Knee Deformity.
J Clin Med 14(2)
Authors: Paweł Leyko, Monika Zaborska, Agnieszka Walczak, Łukasz Tomczyk, Marcin Pelc, Aleksander Mnich, Radosław Operacz, Piotr Morasiewicz
Affiliations
- Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Opole, 45-040 Opole, Poland.
- Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Opole, 45-040 Opole, Poland.
- University Clinical Centre in Gdańsk, 80-952 Gdańsk, Poland.
- Department of Food Safety and Quality Management, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 28, 60-637 Poznan, Poland.
- Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Opole, 45-040 Opole, Poland.
Abstract
Developmental knee joint deformities are a common problem in pediatric orthopedics. Children with a valgus or varus deformity of the distal femur or the proximal tibia are commonly treated with hemiepiphysiodesis. Gait analysis in patients with lower limb deformities plays an important role in clinical practice. The purpose of our study was to assess gait parameters in patients who underwent hemiepiphysiodesis procedures of the distal femur or proximal tibia due to a knee deformity and to compare them with those in healthy controls. We prospectively evaluated 35 patients (14 females and 21 males) after hemiepiphysiodesis and compared the results with a healthy control group (26 participants). Gait was analyzed with a G-Sensor device (BTS Bioengineering Corp., Quincy, MA, USA). We assessed the following gait parameters: gait cycle duration, step length, support phase duration, swing phase duration, double support duration, single support duration, cadence, velocity, and step length. We assessed these gait parameters in a group of patients before and after treatment with hemiepiphysiodesis. We compared the patients' results before and after treatment to those of a healthy control group. The level of significance was set at < 0.05. The mean follow-up period was 13 months. There was no difference in the results of gait assessments in patients prior to and after treatment. The median step length was 47.09% in the treated limb after treatment and 54.01% in the intact limb ( = 0.018). There were no other differences in gait parameters in the treated limbs and the healthy, intact limbs in the patient group after treatment. There were no significant differences in the patients before and after treatment compared with those in the healthy control group in all gait parameters. Valgus or varus knee deformity correction with the use of hemiepiphysiodesis does not significantly improve preoperative gait parameters. The biomechanical outcomes of hemiepiphysiodesis in the treatment of valgus or varus knee deformity are good. We observed no differences in gait cycle duration, step length, support phase duration, swing phase duration, double support duration, single support duration, gait velocity, cadence, or step length between the experimental and healthy control groups.
MeSH
Congenital Abnormalities, Gait Analysis, Gait, Aftercare, Therapeutics