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ABSTRACT
This study investigated the effect of various short-leg walking boot designs on walking. Four commercially available walking boots and a synthetic walking cast were tested using three-dimensional gait analysis to determine their effect on a normal individual's gait pattern. Temporal-spatial parameters and lower limb kinematics and kinetics were analyzed for 10 normal subjects. The synthetic walking cast was the most different when compared with the shoe condition with respect to the all parameters tested. The Bledsoe walking boot was the only boot that was not significantly different from the shoe condition for all parameters tested.
Short lower-leg walkers have been designed as an alternative to traditional cast immobilization. The indications for use of lower-leg walkers include severe ankle sprains, ankle and foot fractures, and post-surgical stabilization after tendon or ligament repairs. These orthopedic walkers are lightweight, convenient to use, and removable to perform range of motion exercises or inspect the injured extremity. Short-leg walkers are as effective as walking casts in healing ankle fractures, and patients treated with shortleg walkers experience significantly less edema, tenderness, and joint stiffness after 6 weeks of immobilization.1
In recent years, the cost of short-leg walkers has decreased substantially and even reached levels below the cost of synthetic or traditional plaster walking casts. The degree of immobilization is most likely more stringent in a cast; however, unless this is a requirement, the numerous advantages short-leg walkers have over casting make them appealing.
To date, no studies have investigated the effect short-leg walkers have on an individual's gait pattern. Previous studies have investigated only foot pressures in individuals wearing these orthoses.2,3 Because these orthoses sometimes are worn for lengthy periods (up to 6 months), a normal gait pattern while wearing these walkers should be an important consideration.
This study compared the gait pattern in normal individuals wearing four commercially available short-leg walkers and a synthetic walking cast to determine which orthosis allowed the individual to simulate the most normal gait pattern.
Materials and Methods
Patient Population. Six men and four women, with a mean age of 27.2±3.6 years, mean height of 171. 9± 10.4 cm, and mean weight of 74.7 ±13.9 kg, were recruited for this study. Subjects were included only if they had no prior history of...