Supervised Physiotherapy Improves Three-Dimensional (3D) Gait Parameters in Patients after Surgical Suturing of the Achilles Tendon Using an Open Method (SSATOM).
J Clin Med 2022;
11:jcm11123335. [PMID:
35743407 PMCID:
PMC9225029 DOI:
10.3390/jcm11123335]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2022] [Revised: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of 38 supervised postoperative physiotherapy (SVPh) visits conducted between 1 and 20 weeks after SSATOM on the values of 3D gait parameters measured at 10 and 20 weeks after surgery.
MATERIAL
Group I comprised male patients (n = 22) after SSATOM (SVPh x = 38 visits) and Group II comprised male patients (n = 22) from the control group.
METHODS
A non-randomized, open-label, controlled clinical trial was performed in the two groups to obtain the following values: Step length (cm), stride length (cm), step width (cm), next stance phase (%), swing phase (%), double support (%), gait velocity (m/s), and walking frequency (step/min). The measurements were carried out using the BTS SMART system (Italy).
RESULTS
Orthopedic examination showed no pain, a negative result of Thompson and Matles tests, and proper healing of Achilles tendon (ultrasound image). In Group I, between 10 and 20 weeks after SSATOM, there was a statistically significant improvement in all tested gait parameter values (p ≤ 0.001 to 0.009).
CONCLUSIONS
Conducting 38 SVPh visits significantly improved the values of the analyzed kinematic and spatiotemporal gait parameters in patients in the twentieth week after SSATOM, which were mostly close to the non-operated side and the results of the control group. However, the gait speed and stride length were not close to the results of the control group.
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