Is clinical gait analysis useful in guiding rehabilitation therapy decisions in patients with spinal cord damage?

Abstract

This is a retrospective open cohort case series that describes biomechanical data provided by three dimensional gait analysis (3DGA) in adults with incomplete spinal cord damage (ISCD) and outlines how the recommendations helped optimize rehabilitation therapy. 3DGA data were collected on 40 adults over 17 years of age with SCD due to traumatic or non-traumatic causes. Following clinical assessment and placement of retroflective markers, patients walked barefoot at preferred speed along a 10 m walkway as per clinical protocol. 3DGA data suggests the most common gait deviation in patients with ISCD occurs in the sagittal plane with compensations made in the transverse plane. These data guided therapy options in many of the patients in this study, at times suggesting alternate methods of treatment to those originally posed by the referrer.