Efficacy of Split Gait in the Treatment of Dynamic Asymmetries in Subjects With Pathologic Claudication

Brief summary (registry, in English)

Walking on a split-belt treadmill (each of the two belts running at a different speed) imposes an asymmetrical gait, mimicking limping that has been observed in various pathologic conditions. This walking modality has been proposed as an experimental paradigm to investigate the flexibility of the neural control of gait and as a form of therapeutic exercise for hemi-paretic patients. However, the scarcity of dynamic investigations both for segmental aspects and for the entire body system, represented by the centre of mass, challenges the validity of the available findings on split gait. Compared with overground gait in hemiplegia, split gait entails an opposite spatial and dynamic asymmetry. The faster leg mimics the paretic limb temporally, but the unimpaired limb from the spatial and dynamic point of view. These differences suggest that a partial shift in perspective may help to clarify the potential of the split gait as a rehabilitation tool. The aim of the present study is to investigate the dynamic asymmetries of lower limbs in adults with unilateral motor impairments (e.g. hemiplegia post-stroke, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, unilateral amputation, surgical orthopedic interventions) during adaptation to gait on a split-belt treadmill. The sagittal power provided by the ankle and the total mechanical energy of the centre of mass will be thoroughly studied. The time course of phenomena both during gait when the belts are running at different speed and when the belts are set back to the same speed (i.e. the after-effect) will be investigated. A greater dynamic symmetry between the lower limbs is expected after split gait. The question whether this symmetry will occur when the pathological limb is on the faster or the lower belt will be disclosed. Some alterations of the motion of the centre of mass during split gait are also expected.

What you commit to

• Study type: Interventional
• Participants enrolled: 15
• From 5 Feb 2020 to the primary completion date, 31 Dec 2024
• 1 site in 1 country
• Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them

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Who the study is looking for

Age in the registry: 18 years to 70 years · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers

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Sites (1)

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