Assessment of gait recovery in children after Traumatic Brain Injury.
OBJECTIVE
The aims were: (1) to quantify the functional limitation of children at the beginning of recovery of independent ambulation after Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), using clinical-functional scales; (2) to evaluate the changes in gait pattern during rehabilitation (about 5 months later), using 3D Gait Analysis (GA) in post-acute phase; (3) to investigate the presence of correlation among parameters obtained by 3DGA, clinical assessment and measures connected with the trauma.


METHODS
Fourteen children with hemiplegia after severe TBI were evaluated at independent gait recovery (S0) and 5.5 months later (S1) by clinical assessment (GOS, DRS, WeeFIM and GMFM) and 3D GA (spatio-temporal parameters, kinematics and kinetics).


RESULTS
At S1 all clinical measures had improved. Regarding spatio-temporal parameters, velocity and step length improved. Significant progress was evident at the ankle joint, while an unchanged condition appeared at pelvis and hip in sagittal plane with a worsening of hip rotation which increased its internal rotation. Significant correlations were found between motor performance, clinical assessment and trauma-related measures.


CONCLUSIONS
Repeated GA and clinical evaluations were useful in quantifying the motor recovery of children with TBI during rehabilitation underpinning the role of GA in quantifying these modifications in an objective and non-invasive way.
Beretta
Elena
E
IRCCS E. Medea - La Nostra Famiglia, Bosisio Parini (LC), Italy. elena.beretta@bp.lnf.it
Cimolin
Veronica
V
Piccinini
Luigi
L
Carla Turconi
Anna
A
Galbiati
Sara
S
Crivellini
Marcello
M
Galli
Manuela
M
Strazzer
Sandra
S
D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006429:Hemiplegia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012016:Reference Values