Electromyographic Evaluation of the Sound and Involved Knee During Gait of Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy Patients

Introduction Cerebral palsy patients exhibit several variations from the normal gait pattern, when the kinematic and kinetic information is analyzed [1]. Electromyography (EMG) is frequently applied in such patients during gait, in order to supply information about the activation patterns of the involved muscles. In normal gait, the co-contraction of the knee extensor and flexor muscles is increased during the loading response in order to stabilize the knee joint when absorbing the body-weight load, whereas the same muscle group remains silent during the terminal stance phase [2]. However, it is still unknown whether the same behavior exist for hemiplegic cerebral palsy patients as well. The purpose of this study was to compare the level of activation of the thigh muscles during the above mentioned phases of the gait cycle.