Tuned Versus Untuned Ankle-foot Orthoses in Children and Adolescents With Cerebral Palsy

Tuned Versus Untuned Ankle-foot Orthoses in Children and Adolescents With Cerebral palsy_AFO-Study

Cerebral palsy (CP) in children and adolescents is frequently accompanied by gait abnormalities. Ankle-foot orthoses (AFO) have been suggested to improve the gait pattern. Compared to conventional AFO, modular AFO offer the opportunity to tune its response to the patient's gait characteristics and/or functional maturity. However, the evidence level is still small and AFO tuning is not yet established in clinical routine. The study will investigate individual tuning of custom-built ankle-foot-orthoses (AFO) using gait analyses

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients in outpatient treatment from the University Children's Hospital Basel (UKBB)
• Informed Consent provided as documented by signature
• Confirmed diagnosis of cerebral palsy
• Confirmed diagnosis of spastic equinus and/ or drop foot,
• Gait pathologies treated with conventional AFO
• Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level I or II

Exclusion Criteria:

• Other neuromuscular diseases
• Previous surgical treatment to improve gait pathologies
• Injections of Botulinum toxin 6 month prior to study inclusion
• Inability or unwillingness to follow the procedures of the gait analysis