Ahmadi Bani M, Arazpour M, Farahmand F, Kashani R V, Mousavi M E, Hutchins S W
Department of Orthotics and Prosthetics, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Science , Tehran, Iran.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology , Tehran, Iran.
Spinal Cord Ser Cases. 2015 Oct 8;1:15012. doi: 10.1038/scsandc.2015.12. eCollection 2015.
As energy consumption during orthotics walking has main role in rehabilitation of walking in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI), the aim of this study was comparison between new medial linkage orthosis (new MLO) and isocentric reciprocating gait orthosis (IRGO) on energy consumption in paraplegic patients.
Four people with motor incomplete SCI (mean age 34.5 years, mass 73 kg and height 175 cm with injury levels ranging from T8-T12) participated in this study. Gait evaluation was performed using new MLO compared with using conventional IRGO. Walking speed and heart rate were measured to calculate the physiological cost index (PCI) to estimate metabolic energy consumption.
Reductions in energy consumption were observed using new MLO compared with using IRGO, but the difference was not statistically significant. However, walking distance and walking speed also improved, but not significantly.
All subjects had faster speeds of walking, walked longer distances and had lower PCI when using new MLO compared to walking with IRGO. Consequently, this orthosis should be examined and considered with larger sample size.
由于矫形器步行过程中的能量消耗在脊髓损伤（SCI）患者的步行康复中起主要作用，本研究的目的是比较新型内侧联动矫形器（新型MLO）和等中心往复式步态矫形器（IRGO）对截瘫患者能量消耗的影响。
四名运动不完全性SCI患者（平均年龄34.5岁，体重73千克，身高175厘米，损伤水平为T8 - T12）参与了本研究。与使用传统IRGO相比，使用新型MLO进行步态评估。测量步行速度和心率以计算生理成本指数（PCI）来估计代谢能量消耗。
与使用IRGO相比，使用新型MLO时能量消耗有所降低，但差异无统计学意义。然而，步行距离和步行速度也有所改善，但不显著。
与使用IRGO步行相比，所有受试者在使用新型MLO时步行速度更快，步行距离更长，PCI更低。因此，应使用更大样本量对这种矫形器进行检查和考量。
