A pilot case study examining the effects of inhibitive ankle-foot orthoses on functional motor performance in a child with spastic diplegia is presented. Both qualitative and quantitative changes occurred, lending support to the efficacy of inhibitive orthoses in improving motor performance in children with cerebral palsy.

BACKGROUND Ankle foot orthoses are used for postoperative treatment of Achilles tendon ruptures and decrease calf muscle electromyography activity during walking. HYPOTHESIS Achilles tendon load decreases with increased restriction of dorsiflexion and is associated with decreased triceps surae activity. STUDY DESIGN Controlled laboratory study. METHODS In 8 subjects, the maximum force and...

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by impaired motor co-ordination and awkward gait. Despite self-reported findings of pes planus and joint hypermobility in children with DCD, there is little objective evidence regarding the clinical management of the foot in children with DCD. The aims of this research were to report clinical findings of fo...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the evidence relating to the effectiveness of foot orthoses and shock-absorbing insoles for the prevention of musculoskeletal injury. DESIGN Systematic review and meta-analysis. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES Clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of foot orthoses and shock-absorbing insoles for the prevention of injury. DATA SOURCES Cochrane Lib...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the short-term clinical efficacy of in-shoe foot orthoses over a wait-and-see policy in the treatment of anterior knee pain (AKP) and evaluate the ability of foot posture measures to predict outcome. DESIGN Single-blind, randomised control trial. PARTICIPANTS Forty participants (18-40 years) with clinically diagnosed AKP of greater than 6-week duration, who had not...

Introduction: Prefabricated foot orthoses are being widely used in the management of foot and lower limb foot pathology (Landorf et al, 2001). There are many difference brands with many different design parameters available on the market for clinical use. They have been shown effective in the clinical management of pathology (Pfeffer et al, 1999; Landorf et al, 2003; Payne & Dawes, 2004). Given...

Several cervical spine braces and orthoses were evaluated for their compatibility with imaging in the MR scanner. Nine such devices were investigated: EXO cervical collar, Philadelphia collar, S.O.M.I. cervical orthosis, Guilford cervical orthosis, modified Guilford cervical orthosis, PMT halo cervical orthosis, modified PMT halo cervical orthosis, Bremer halo system, and Bremer MR-compatible h...

BACKGROUND Throughout the period of one year, approximately 50% of recreational runners will sustain an injury that disrupts their training regimen. Foot orthoses have been shown to be clinically effective in the prevention and treatment of several running-related conditions, yet the physical effect of this intervention during running remains poorly understood. The aim of this literature review...

The purpose of this study was to quantify the effects of selected foot orthoses on muscle activity in the lower extremity during running. Nine male and 12 female recreational runners, clinically and functionally classified as 'pronators', volunteered for this study and performed over-ground running trials at 4m/s in each of four experimental conditions: control, posting, molding, and posting & ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of weakness of the bilateral triceps surae muscles-the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles-in astasia without abasia and whether compensating for muscle weakness with ankle-foot orthoses improves this disability. DESIGN Case-control study of clinical findings and before and after trial of ankle-foot orthoses. SETTING Clinics of the departments of rehabilitatio...