GAIT FEATURES IN CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of cerebral palsy determines the presence of movement disorders, among which walking/gait disorders play a central role. Limitations of the practical application of three-dimensional video gait analysis are associated with the high cost and complexity of the study. The use of inertial sensors in instrumental gait analysis solves these problems, and the study of the indicators of this research method in various forms of cerebral palsy is an urgent issue.

AIMS: To study the gait features of children with various spastic forms of cerebral palsy using instrumental gait analysis using inertial sensors and identify key pathological patterns.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is observational, single-center, retrospective, and continuous. On the basis of the Department of Medical Rehabilitation for Children of the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital, 88 protocols of instrumental gait analysis were analyzed in patients with a confirmed diagnosis of cerebral palsy during the initial examination in the period from July 2021 to November 2024.

RESULTS: According to instrumental gait analysis using inertial sensors, the most significant markers of pathological gait were determined depending on the spastic form of cerebral palsy in children – hemiplegia, diplegia, tetraplegia, including compensatory changes on the side of the nonparetic leg in hemiplegia.

CONCLUSIONS: The identified key pathological patterns are the most significant for setting priorities for rehabilitation with various spastic forms of cerebral palsy.