title: Effect of a rigid ankle-foot orthosis on hamstring length in children with hemiplegia.
abstract: Eighteen children with hemiplegia, mean age 8 years 5 months, underwent gait analysis and musculoskeletal modelling using specially designed software. The maximum lengths of the hamstrings were determined for each child walking in and out of an ankle-foot orthosis (AFO). The muscles were deemed to be short if shorter than the normal average -1SD. In bare feet 8 participants had short medial hamstrings with a higher proportion of these in the less involved individuals. All participants showed an increase in maximum hamstring length when wearing an AFO. In all but one child this was sufficient to restore hamstring length to within normal limits. These finding suggest that hamstring pathology in hemiplegic gait is usually secondary to more distal lower limb pathology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Research, Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Cosgrove
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D000843:Ankle Joint / Q000502:physiology; D001915:Braces; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006429:Hemiplegia / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009128:Muscle Spasticity / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012984:Software; D016896:Treatment Outcome