Efficacy of Hinged Ankle–Foot Orthosis on Gait Improvement of Children with Spastic Diplegic Cerebral Palsy: A Literature Review

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose is to study the effect of hinged ankle–foot orthosis (HAFO) on gait kinematics and temporospatial parameters of children with diplegic cerebral palsy. Methods: A literature search has been conducted from 2005 to 2022 to find the studies measuring the effect of HAFO on children with diplegic spastic cerebral palsy (CP) during gait through various bibliographic databases: PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, O and P Virtual Library and Google Scholar. Results: We found 96 pieces of potentially relevant literature from which only six studies met the inclusion criteria were included. One hundred and fifty-three participants, with a mean age of 8.6 years (4–17 years), were investigated, of which 128 were spastic diplegic CP. Among spastic diplegic, 45 individuals were identified as walking with true equinus gait and 34 with jump gait. Gait parameters of participants were evaluated with ankle–foot orthoses (AFO) (hinged, solid and supramalleolar orthosis), and barefoot walking conditions showed improvement in some kinematic and spatial-temporal parameters, making their gait closer to that of typically developing children. Conclusion: HAFO was found very satisfactory, as it improves dynamic stability and ankle range of motion resulting in a more natural gait in children with spastic diplegic CP.