The influence of early or delayed provision of ankle-foot orthoses on pelvis, hip and knee kinematics in patients with sub-acute stroke: a randomized controlled trial

Insufficient foot-clearance is an important alteration in the gait pattern often seen after stroke. It can be caused by decreased hip [1] and knee flexion [1,2] and decreased ankle dorsiflexion [1,3]. To overcome foot-clearance problems, individual stroke patients may use compensatory movement strategies like circumduction [2,4], increased hip flexion [3] and pelvic hiking [2,4,5], depending on the patient ’s specific impairments and chosen strategy. Ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) are often used to improve walking and are reported to facilitate, amongst others, toe-clearance in swing [6].

Source: Gait and Posture - May 10, 2018 Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Corien D.M. Nikamp, Job van der Palen, Hermie J. Hermens, Johan S. Rietman, Jaap H. Buurke Tags: Full length article Source Type: research