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Gait Evaluation for Patients with Cerebral Palsy

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Orthopedic Care of Patients with Cerebral Palsy

Abstract

Children with the diagnosis of cerebral palsy (CP) often demonstrate abnormal and inefficient gait pattern that cause increased energy demands when walking. Because a person’s self-selected gait pattern and walking speed are the individual’s most efficient, gait analysis is an important part of clinical evaluation. Gait analysis is performed by visual observation or by using specialized equipment. A three-dimensional gait analysis is a complete and systematic evaluation of walking. Instrumented gait analysis includes the simultaneous measurement of dynamic joint motions (kinematics), joint forces (kinetics), and muscle activity (electromyography), coupled with a passive examination of tone, range of motion, and muscle strength/control of the lower extremities. Instrumented gait analysis, using a three-dimensional motion capture system, is considered the standard of care for developing appropriate treatment plan for ambulatory children diagnosed with CP. This chapter reviews the principles of gait analysis (observational and instrumented) with the focus on children and adolescents with the diagnosis of CP. Discussion will include methodology for collecting and interpreting electromyography, kinematic, and kinetic data. Additionally, examples of observation and instrumented gait analyses data are presented to assist new clinicians providing care related to walking for children with the diagnosis of CP.

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Acknowledgement

Illustrations by Morgan Hall.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Motion Analysis Center, Shriners Hospitals for Children Medical Center-Lexington, Lexington, KY, USA

    Hank White & Samuel Augsburger

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  1. Hank White
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  2. Samuel Augsburger
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Correspondence to Hank White .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopedics, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, Grand Rapids, MI, USA

    Philip D. Nowicki

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White, H., Augsburger, S. (2020). Gait Evaluation for Patients with Cerebral Palsy. In: Nowicki, P. (eds) Orthopedic Care of Patients with Cerebral Palsy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46574-2_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46574-2_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-46573-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-46574-2

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