Biomechanical evaluation of swing-through crutch gait in patients with lower extremity injury

The main purpose was to determine the values of spatio-temporal parameters and ground reaction forces during the swingthrough crutch gait. Methods: Eighteen male patients with unilateral injury within the foot, ankle or shank (age: 25.4 ± 7.7 years, body height: 1.79 ± 0.06 m, body mass: 76.1 ± 11.5 kg) participated in the study. In the experiment, 6-camera optoelectronic motion capture system and force platform were used. The measurements of spatio-temporal parameters and ground reaction force (GRF) were performed for uninjured lower extremity (ULE), crutch on the ULE side (CrU) and crutch on the injured lower extremity side (CrI). Results: Analysis demonstrated a significantly longer stance phase and a significantly shorter swing phase for ULE than crutches ( p < 0.05), and a significantly longer first, compared to the second, double support phase ( p < 0.05). Comparisons showed also significantly higher maximum values of the vertical GRF and extreme values of the horizontal antero-posterior GRF for ULE than crutches ( p < 0.05) as well as for CrI than CrU ( p < 0.05). Conclusions: The present study provides biomechanical data related to the spatio-temporal parameters and GRFs for the swing-through crutch gait in patients with the lower extremity injuries.