Locomotion in Children with Cerebral Palsy: a Review with Special Reference to the Displacement of the Center of Mass and Energy Cost

Abstract

The aim of the study was to review aspects of the displacement of the center of mass and energy cost of walking in children with cerebral palsy. The methodology used was a bibliographical review, whose articles had been chosen using the database PubMed and Google Scholar. There is unanimity from the studies that describe the locomotion of the hemiplegic children with increased vertical displacement of center of mass, ineffi cient exchange between kinetic and potential energy and elevated energy cost when compared with normal children. The mechanisms that explain these fi ndings seem to have strong relation with the muscular co-contraction and the deformity in plantarfl exion. Therefore, evaluation of the locomotion through cinematography and energy expenditure index is effi cient to detect the effects of medical and therapeutic interventions.