Article

The aim of this study was to examine the immediate and long-term effects of
different ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) types on postural responses in patients with
various pathological conditions who, because of their walking disorders, wore an AFO.
A total of 37 patients with different pathological conditions who visited
the outpatient clinic for orthotics because of walking problems, already used or
were referred for an AFO and had no other impairments that may influence balance
were included in the study.
The participants were divided into four groups
according to the type of AFO that they wore. The postural responses were assessed
with and without AFO using two force-plates following perturbations in different
directions at the level of the pelvis. The centre of pressure was examined in the
sagittal and frontal plane and compared with the normative data from healthy
individuals. The results showed an improvement in postural responses to the
lateral and backward perturbation directions when wearing the AFO, particularly
responses in the anterior-posterior direction. The best results were achieved
with the custom-made posterior leaf spring AFO for correction of equinovarus
deformity. The time of wearing the AFO had an impact on postural responses in
perturbation directions where the patients could not rely only on AFO. The custom-made AFO improved overall postural responses, especially dynamic
stability, in lateral directions, whereas all stiff AFOs contributed towards an
improvement in responses to all perturbations to the affected side. Results
showed that long-term use of an AFO can be important for the overall improvement
of postural responses.

Langue : ANGLAIS