30 years old patient with severe congenital deformation of the leg.
1. The patient was asked to walk with no further instructions. He chooses not to use the handrails in the first few steps. Due to his deformation, his gait pattern is highly a-symmetric.
The stance duration on his right leg is significantly shorter than on his left leg, and he uses a ‘hop’ to avoid putting his entire weight on his right leg. The patient pushes hard with his left leg during the terminal stance in the pre-swing phase. He does so to shorten the left leg’s swing time as much as he can.
2. Patient was asked to use the handrails. His gait pattern becomes much more symmetric. He compensates his inability to bear weight on his right leg by using his hands. The right leg’s stance duration becomes longer, and he no longer needs to hop to initiate a step.
Video Guide 26