Plantar pressures in children with congenital talipes equino varus--a comparison between surgical management and the Ponseti technique.

The Ponseti technique for treatment for Congenital Talipes Equinovarus (CTEV) was introduced in the authors' institution in 2001, substituting a more traditional orthopaedic approach which involved surgery. There is currently limited published information regarding the differences in clinical outcomes between these two techniques, particularly in relation to plantar pressure analysis. This study aims to determine differences in pedobarographic outcome in children with CTEV, treated with either a surgical or Ponseti approach. A high resolution pedobarograph was used to record plantar pressure distribution in 52 children with CTEV and 26 children with typical development. Data were imported into Matlab where a custom programme was developed for processing and analysing pedobarographic recordings. There were significant differences in both treatment groups compared to the typically developed group (p<0.05) for most measurements. The most salient differences between treatment groups were (i) at the hind-foot where the Ponseti group had significantly lower maximum peak pressures (p<0.05); (ii) at the lateral mid-foot where children treated by the Ponseti approach showed significantly larger peak force (p<0.001), average peak pressure (p<0.001) and maximum peak pressure (p<0.01); (iii) at the lateral fore-foot where the surgical group showed lower average peak pressure (p<0.05); and (iv) in the medial/lateral fore-foot ratio where the Ponseti group showed significantly lower values (p<0.05). Plantar pressure analysis is a complementary measurement for the assessment of gait in children with CTEV. Data presented in this study showed that while there were deviations in children with CTEV, the differences observed between treatment groups suggest children in the Ponseti group have some level of under correction or recurrence.

Pelvic kinematics and their relationship to gait type in hemiplegic cerebral palsy.

While there is general clinical consensus that children with Unilateral Spastic Cerebral Palsy (USCP) walk with an increased anterior pelvic tilt and the affected hemipelvis retracted, there is less agreement to observations in the coronal plane. Furthermore, the relationship of 3D pelvic kinematic parameters to the Winters, Gage and Hicks (WGH) hemiplegic gait classification has not been reported in the literature. Valid 3-D kinematic gait data were obtained in a representative population of 91 children with hemiplegia (56 M, mean age 10.8 yrs, age range 5-18 yrs; WGH classification Type I n=32, II n=5, III n=7, IV n=9, unclassified n=38). Deviations of symmetry and range of movement from our normative data set (n=48; 26F; mean age 9.9 yrs; age range 5-18 yrs) for mean tilt, tilt range, and difference between affected and unaffected sides for obliquity and rotation were defined as normal, mild, moderate or severe (<1 standard deviation (SD); >1<2 SD; >2<3 SD; >3 SD, respectively). Increased pelvic tilt range (>1 SD) was observed in 60.4% and pelvic retraction (>1 SD) was observed in 61.5% of USCP children in this study. Weak but significant correlations were found between WGH gait type and pelvic obliquity (ρ=0.29; p<0.01). No other correlations were found. Factors such as leg length discrepancy modify the functional leg length throughout the gait cycle contributing to the deviations observed. The evaluation of gait abnormalities in USCP should not be limited to the use of classifications based on sagittal plane kinematics but should seek to include 3D kinematics of the pelvis.

Biomechanical approaches applied to the lower and upper limb for the measurement of spasticity: a systematic review of the literature.

PURPOSE: To review and characterise biomechanical approaches for the measurement of spasticity as one component of the upper motor neurone syndrome. METHOD: Systematic literature searches based on defined constructs and a four-step review process of approaches used or described to measure spasticity, its association with function or associated phenomena. Most approaches were limited to individual joints and therefore, to reflect this trend, references were grouped according to which body joint(s) were investigated or whether it addressed a functional activity. For each joint, references were further sub-divided into the types of measurement method described. RESULTS: A database of 335 references was established for the review process. The knee, ankle and elbow joints were the most popular, perhaps reflecting the assumption that they are mono-planar in movement and therefore simpler to assess. Seven measurement methods were identified: five involving passive movement (manual, controlled displacement, controlled torque, gravitational and tendon tap) and two involving active movement (voluntary and functional). Generally, the equipment described was in an experimental stage and there was a lack of information on system properties, such as accuracy or reliability. Patient testing was either by cohort or case studies. The review also conveyed the myriad of interpretations of the concept of spasticity. CONCLUSIONS: Though biomechanical approaches provide quantitative data, the review highlighted several limitations that have prevented them being established as an appropriate method for clinical application to measure spasticity.