THE INFLUENCE OF FOREARM CRUTCHES ON PELVIC AND HIP KINEMATICS IN CHILDREN WITH MYELOMENINGOCELE - DONT THROW AWAY THE CRUTCHES

Gait analysis was performed on 16 children with high-sacral-level myel omeningocele who walked with and without crutches to evaluate the infl uence of crutches on their unique walking pattern. All of the patients used solid ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs). Deviations in coronal and tran sverse planes improved with assisted walking. The timing of stance pha se pelvic depression and the magnitude of stance phase hip abduction i mproved with crutch walking. Pelvic rotation, which was seven times th e normal range of motion during no-crutch walking, decreased to four t imes normal with crutches. Walking velocity was not significantly diff erent between conditions. The results demonstrated that deviations in pelvic and hip kinematics are related to muscle weakness and improve w ith crutch use. Crutches enable the patient to transfer some weight be aring to their upper extremities which decreases the demand on weak lo wer-extremity musculature. This allows them to maintain functional amb ulation with a closer to normal gait pattern.