Clinical and gait analysis of isolated soft tissue release surgery in crouch gait patients

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether isolated soft tissue release operation provides clinical and kinematic improvementin crouch gait, which is one of the major walking problems in cerebral palsy (CP) patients.Material Methods: This retrospective study included 32 limbs of 16 patients aged between 4 and 12 years with crouch gait walkingpattern due to cerebral palsy between January 2004 and December 2013. All patients underwent multilevel isolated soft tissue releasesurgery. The preoperative and postoperative GMFSC level, clinical findings and gait analysis data of the patients were recorded. Preoperativeand post-operative data, which are obtained at post-op 6th month clinical examination and gait analysis, was compared.Results: A total of 114 lower extremity soft tissue segments (mean 7.1 segments) were operated. The most common surgery wasmedial hamstring lengthening (22). GMFCS score was 2.38±0.5 before operation, 1.69±0.4 at postoperative controls,and poplitealangle decreased from 65.2±11.9 to 60.15 (p