Progress of gait analysis in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Abstract

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a three-dimensional deformity of the spine, which not only affects spinal anatomy, mobility and trunk symmetry, but also leads to the changes of human locomotion through pelvic. During the past 30 years, though great progress has been made in the treatment of AIS, the pathogeny of AIS is still uncertain. Most scholars believe that many factors contribute to the pathogeny of AIS, however, some studies have shown that poor posture during walking and poor manage of balance could lead to the progress of scoliosis. Gait is a behaviour characteristic during walking, and normal gait is the result of nervous system, musculoskeletal system, proprioception and vision. Any disease of the system above may cause abnormal gait. Gait analysis can spot the key links and impact factors of abnormal gait by observing and measuring the testers' walking, reflect the abnormal gait objectively and quantitatively, and provide reference opinions for the recovery and treatment of patients. At present, gait analysis has been mostly applied in hemiplegia, cerebral palsy and knee osteoarthritis. In recent years, gait analysis has been increasingly used in AIS patients. There have been many researches about the kinematics and kinetics of gait analysis in adolsecent idiopathic scoliosis abroad and some positive results have been reported. But in China, it's still in the initial stage. We reviewed the published papers about gait analysis in AIS patients, and summarized the kinematics, kinetics and different means of intervention on gait in AIS patients. We hope it will provide references for our researches.