The Impact of Ankle-Foot Orthoses on Spatio-Temporal Gait Parameters in Drop-Foot Patients

Drop foot syndrome represents a deficit in locomotion, resulting from pathologies such as stroke, brain or spinal cord injury and other neurological diseases. In order to improve the quality of life of people suffering from this impairment, a widely used orthopaedic support is the “ankle foot orthosis-AFO”. This aid is applied externally to patients with drop foot syndrome in order to support plantar flexion after heel strike and subsequently allow the foot to be extended. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect and clinical relevance of the use of an AFO on walking ability in patients suffering Drop-Foot syndrome. The experimental procedures to collect data consisted of gait analysis sessions performed with the Mobility Lab system by APDM, based on Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) data. The analysis was carried out on a group of 19 patients with unilateral Drop-Foot syndrome, by means of ANOVA statistical test, to verify the differences among limbs and the effects of the use of the AFO. Results show a significant difference, between the affected and contralateral limb, in the following spatio-temporal metrics: Foot Clearance at Mid-Swing, Stance Duration and Swing Duration. Moreover, the considered AFO does not produce significant improvements on these parameters. The Step Duration differs significantly among limbs and improves when walking with AFO. Finally, the use of the orthotic device in the analysed population produces a significant change also in the following parameters: Gait Cycle Time and Cadence.