Gait in children with achondroplasia – a cross-sectional study on joint kinematics and kinetics

BACKGROUND: Children with achondroplasia have extreme short stature due to short limbs, as well as several other clinical features that may affect their gait. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to provide a detailed description of gait in children with achondroplasia compared to age-matched controls. METHODS: Between the years 2007 and 2010, 16 children with achondroplasia [mean age 9.6 years (range 5–16; six female)] with no previous history of orthopaedic lower limb surgery and 19 age-matched controls conducted three-dimensional (3D) gait analysis at one occasion. The gait analysis rendered pelvis and lower limb joint kinematics and kinetics, and time and distance data. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, and Fisher’s exact test were used to describe the cohort including gait data and participant characteristics. RESULTS: Children with achondroplasia had kinematic gait pattern deviations in all three planes, especially in the sagittal plane, when compared to the control group. Peak anterior pelvic tilt and peak ankle dorsiflexion were found to be increased. Increased knee flexion was noted at initial contact and again at terminal stance. During stance, children with achondroplasia had a higher peak hip abduction angle and a higher peak knee varus angle in the frontal plane. In the sagittal plane, kinetic gait pattern deviations were found at the hip, knee, and ankle, consistent with a flexion pattern. Compared to the control group, children with achondroplasia walked with reduced walking speed and step length, and increased cadence. There was no difference in walking speed when leg length was taken into account. Normalised step length and normalised cadence, on the other hand, were found to be increased in children with achondroplasia. CONCLUSIONS: The observed gait characteristics in children with achondroplasia are related to anatomical attributes and strategies to increase step length, and hence walking speed.