title: Therapeutic Effect of Microcurrent Therapy in Children With In-toeing Gait Caused by Increased Femoral Anteversion: A Pilot Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the efficacy of portable microcurrent therapy device (PMTD) of the hip internal rotators in the treatment of in-toeing gait caused by increased femoral anteversion in children over 8 years of age.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eleven children (22 legs; 4 boys and 7 girls; mean age, 10.4±1.6 years) with in-toeing gait caused by increased femoral anteversion were included in the present study. All children received 60 minutes of PMTD (intensity, 25 µA; frequency, 8 Hz) applied to the hip internal rotators daily for 4 weeks. Hip internal rotation (IR) angle, external rotation (ER) angle, and midmalleolar-second toe angle (MSTA) measurement during stance phase at transverse plane and Family Satisfaction Questionnaire, frequency of tripping and fatigue like pains about the PMTD were performed before treatment and at 4 weeks after initial PMTD treatment. Paired t-test and Fisher exact test were used for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hip IR/ER/MSTA was 70.3°±5.4°/20.1°±5.5°/-11.4°±2.7°, and 55.7°±7.8°/33.6°±8.2°/-2.6°±3.8° before treatment and at 4 weeks after initial PMTD treatment, respectively (p<0.01). Ten of 11 (91%) children's family stated that they were generally satisfied with the PMTD treatment. The frequency of tripping and fatigue like pains was significantly lower at 4 weeks after PMTD treatment (p<0.05). Excellent inter-rater and intra-rater reliability was observed for repeated MSTA measurements between the examiners (k=0.91-0.96 and k=0.93-0.99), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PMTD of the hip internal rotators can be effective in improving the gait pattern of children with in-toeing gait caused by increased femoral anteversion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Ki
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1728-181X
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Rak
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4728-930X
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Gi-Young
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0056-1556
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ki-Hoon
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7445-832X
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Hwal
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4176-3253
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Rim
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Won Bin
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4660-0816
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Dae Gil
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8423-8045
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Kwon
keywords: Bone anteversion; Electrical stimulation therapy; Gait