Gait Analysis of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury

Knee joint is one of the important determinants that determine gait pattern. There are few studies on the normal and pathologic gait pattern using 3-dimentional motion analyzer in Korea. The authors measured the extent of gait deviation of 20 anterior cruciate ligament injured patients compared to 20 normal men through the kinematic analysis. The stride length was shortened 100.2cm in the patient group compared to 128.3cm in the normal group. After the application of Donjoy knee brace the stride length of the patient group was increased. The gait speed was decreased significantly in the patient group. The motion angle of maximal knee flexion in the swing phase was greately decreased in the patient group and that of minimal knee flexion in the stance phase was decreased in the patient group. There is no statistical difference between the patient group and the normal group in measurements of the ankle motion angle throughout the gait cycle. The angular velocity of the knee and ankle joint was significantly slow in the patient group but that of hip was fast in the patient group compared to normal group. We concluded that pathologic gait pattern in the anterior cruciate ligament injured patients is influenced by insufficient knee flexibility, restriction of range of motion and pain. Therefore early rehabilitative program to correct pathologic gait pattern after reconstruction surgery of the anterior cruciate ligament injured patients is highly recommended.ope