Introduction
Mr A presented with Progressive Peripheral Neuropathy of unknown aetiology, worsening over the last 20 years. He walks with a mixture of crouch gait and knee hyperextension bilaterally; left worse than Right and used a 4-wheeled walker for long distances or SPWS for shorter ones.
Mr A has trialled off-the-shelf carbon AFOs with various tuning combinations, however the rigidity decreased patient’s balance. He also trialled Knee Orthosis to block hyperextension – rigidity but again made him unbalanced.
Mr A has been successfully fitted with the Freewalk on his Left side, which controlled his knee hyperextension in stance, but allowed a physiological swing phase. This added control on the Left, and also helped to control the Right side. It also helped to reduce his flexion and extension moments. A Freewalk may be considered for Mr A’s Right side in future.
Presentation
Gait
Swing Phase: Sound clearance, intermittently mild foot slapping on the LT, adequate knee flexion and hip flexion in swing.
Stance Phase: Intermittently RT knee flexion, LT knee hyperextension, occasionally both knees into flexion, drop foot (mild).
Full Range of Motion in Ankle & Knee
Results
| No Bracing | With Freewalk | |
|---|---|---|
| Timed Up and Go (secs) | 18.36 | 22.41 |
| 10MWT (secs) | 14.74 | 13.05 |
Comments
“Transitions in timed up and go slow me down with the brace
“Quality of walking is much better
“Knee very much controlled the hyperextension