Effects of ankle arthrodesis on walking: kinematic and kinetic studies.

Abstract

We have studied the effects of ankle arthrodesis on the gait of three subjects with special attention to the time and sagittal plane kinematic and kinetic characteristics. Each subject had a painless arthrodesis and no other gait limitation. To compensate for this disability they showed an increased range of movement at the ipsilateral mid-tarsal, knee and hip joints, and required greater than normal resuftan joint moments to be generated at the ipsilateral knee and hip joints. The subjects exhibited stride-to-stride kinetic compensation at the knee and hip joints, with associated variability in resultant joint moments and power patterns. However, they achieved a symmetric gait by mimicking ipsilateral movements with the opposite limb.