Comparative assessment of gait after limb-salvage procedures.

We performed metabolic studies of gait in eighteen patients who had had above-the-knee amputation, block resection and arthrodesis of the knee, or block resection and rotationplasty for a malignant tumor of the distal end of the femur or the proximal end of the tibia. According to the measurement of consumption of oxygen, the patients who had had rotationplasty walked most efficiently. Those who had had arthrodesis used more oxygen and walked at a slower rate.