Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether isolated soft tissue release operation provides clinical and kinematic improvement in crouch gait, which is one of the major walking problems in cerebral palsy (CP) patients.
Material Methods: This retrospective study included 32 limbs of 16 patients aged between 4 and 12 years with crouch gait walking pattern due to cerebral palsy between January 2004 and December 2013. All patients underwent multilevel isolated soft tissue release surgery. The preoperative and postoperative GMFSC level, clinical findings and gait analysis data of the patients were recorded. Pre-operative and post-operative data, which are obtained at post-op 6th month clinical examination and gait analysis, was compared.
Results: A total of 114 lower extremity soft tissue segments (mean 7.1 segments) were operated. The most common surgery was medial hamstring lengthening (22). GMFCS score was 2.38±0.5 before operation, 1.69±0.4 at postoperative controls,and popliteal angle decreased from 65.2±11.9 to 60.15 (p
Key words: Multilevel isolated soft tissue surgery; crouch gate; cerebral palsy.
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