Functional Capacity Evaluation and Quantitative Gait Analysis: Lower Limb Disorders

Abstract

Functional capacity evaluation as a discrete notion describes a standardized set of tests, mostly used by physicians and physiotherapists in order to assess a patient’s working capacity after trauma. But in a broadened manner, other methods such as instrumented gait analysis can be used for the evaluation of functional capacity post injury. This quantitative analysis of physical function shows repeatable and typical deviations in gait after different types of injury. The data derived by instrumented gait analysis are an objective measure of functional performance during active movement and thus complement static conventional imaging techniques as well as subjective assessments by physicians and physiotherapists. The results of gait analysis have to be interpreted carefully and critically, because the reasons for deviations in gait can be manifold: experimental errors, genuine deviations caused by the patient’s individual pathology or even malingering by the patient. In order to draw proper conclusions for the evaluation of the functional performance, it is important to include the multiple disciplines involved in the assessment and treatment of an injured patient.