title: Effect of weight-bearing in abduction and extension on hip stability in children with cerebral palsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  : To study the effect of 1 year of daily, straddled weight-bearing on hip migration percentage (MP) and muscle length in children with cerebral palsy who were nonambulatory.
  
  
  METHODS
  : Participants stood upright in maximum tolerated hip abduction and hip and knee extension ½ to 1½ hours per day for 1 year. Controls, matched for age, motor ability, and surgery, were derived from a national cerebral palsy follow-up program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  : Participants using straddled weight-bearing after surgery had the largest decrease in MP (n = 3, 20 controls; P = .026). Children using straddled weight-bearing at least 1 hour per day for prevention also improved (n = 8, 63 controls; P = .029). Hip and knee contractures were found only in controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  : Straddled weight-bearing, 1 hour per day, may reduce the MP after adductor-iliopsoas-tenotomies or prevent an MP increase and preserve muscle length in children with cerebral palsy who did not need surgery. Larger studies are needed to confirm the results.
authors.affiliation: Habiliteringen Björkängen, Borås, Sweden. caroline.martinsson@vgregion.se
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martinsson
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Himmelmann
mesh_terms: D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000150:complications* / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006617:Hip Dislocation / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016474:Weight-Bearing