Author(s): Agostini, Valentina ; Ganio, Daria ; Facchin, Katia ; Cane, Luciano ; Carneiro, Susana Moreira ; Knaflitz, Marco
Date: 2014
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10198/17707
Origin: Biblioteca Digital do IPB
Subject(s): Total hip arthroplasty; Hip replacement; Gait; Electromyography; Follow-up
Gait analysis was performed on 20 patients with unilateral hip prosthesis (3, 6 and 12 months post-operatively) and 20 controls to investigate their gait characteristics and muscle activation patterns. One year after the intervention, patients still walked with a higher percentage of "atypical" cycles, a prolonged heel contact, a shortened flat foot contact, a reduced hip dynamic range of motion and abnormal timing in the muscle activation patterns of tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius lateralis, biceps femoris and gluteus medius, with respect to the control group. Although the gait velocity and the knee range of motion improved from 3 to 6 months post-surgery, the above mentioned parameters did not improve from 6 to 12 months. THA patients failed to obtain normal gait one year after surgery.
The authors wish to thank Rosanna Evangelisti, P.T., and Laura Rivella, M.D., in charge coordinator and former head of Struttura Complessa Recupero e Rieducazione Funzionale, ASLTO4 Piemonte, Ivrea (TO), Italy.
