The 'Entlastungsgang'. A hip unloading gait as a new conservative therapy for hip pain in the adult

'Entlastungsgang' is a gait modification aiming to unload the hip joint by producing a modified Duchenne-limp (straight spinal column, additional lift ing of the pelvis on the side of the swinging leg and a consecutive side sh ift of the pelvis) and a wide stance gait. Sixteen patients suffering from hip pain caused mainly by hip dysplasia were investigated. They received da ily gait training for 12 h combined with intensive physical therapy as in-p atients for 3-4 weeks. The external muscle torque acting on the hip joint w as determined by 3D-gait analysis before, during and after the gait trainin g. We found a reduction of the muscle torque after gait training to 77.2% o f the initial value. At an average follow up of 12 months we found a persis ting reduction of the muscle torque to 87.0% at spontaneous gait that was f urther reduced to 81.3% of the initial value. The hip score for two compone nts of the Merle d'Aubigne and Postel score for pain and walking was signif icantly improved from 7.4 to 10.8 points. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Sc ience B.V. All rights reserved.