ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: to investigate the presence of a ground reaction force pattern specific to the patient with unilateral intermittent claudication (IC), and the relationship of this pattern with onset of claudication. DESIGN: identification of impulse pattern during gait of lower limbs with and without ischaemia, in patients with unilateral IC and controls. METHODS: thirty patients with unilateral IC and six peripheral arterial disease non-claudicant patients had their gait recorded using the F-Scan system during a treadmill test. Their plantar impulse pattern was calcuated. Examined lower limbs were subdivided into groups: ischaemic limbs (30), contralateral limbs (30) and lower limbs of patients without IC (12). Two impulse patterns were found: the descending one, where impulse values decrease during gait, and the non-descending one, where these values do not decrease during gait. The numerical distribution of patterns among limb groups was determined and their ratios compared. Correlation between claudication onset and impulse pattern was also investigated. RESULTS: most ischaemic limbs exhibited a descending pattern, in contrast with control and contralateral non-ischaemic limbs (p<0.02). There was no relationship between impulse pattern and claudication onset. CONCLUSIONS: ischaemic lower limbs present the descending pattern of plantar impulse. No relationship exists between this pattern and claudication pain.