Leg lengthening as part of gait improvement surgery in cerebral palsy: an evaluation using gait analysis

Eleven children with hemiplegic or an asymmetric diplegic cerebral palsy who had a preoperative leg length discrepancy of more than 2.5 cm underwent gait improvement surgery which included leg length equalisation. Sagittal plane kinematics and kinetics before and about 3 years after surgery for the lengthened limb and contralateral limb were evaluated. Preoperatively the unaffected limb had excessive stance phase flexion at the hip and knee, and dorsal flexion at the ankle joint. These changes could be partially reversed to produce a kinematic gait pattern comparable to age matched normal controls on the uninvolved side after equalisation of leg length.