Bertoti D B
Phys Ther. 1986 Oct;66(10):1522-9. doi: 10.1093/ptj/66.10.1522.
The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze changes in ambulation between two groups of children with cerebral palsy, with and without short leg casting. Sixteen children with spastic cerebral palsy, aged 10 to 108 months, were assigned randomly to either a short leg casted group or an uncasted group. All children were tested by me, before and after 10 weeks of neurodevelopmental treatment, by recording an ink print ambulation pattern on a length of paper fastened to the floor. Measurements of stride length, stride width, foot angle, and footprint clarity were taken to quantify the ambulation patterns. The percentage of improvement in stride length, stride width, and foot angle was analyzed using a t test, and the percentage of improvement in footprint clarity was analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. An alpha level of .05 was assumed to determine whether the differences between groups were large enough to be statistically significant. A significant difference was found in the percentages of improvement in stride length between the two groups, although the other results were nonsignificant. Short leg casting appears to be valuable in the management of spastic hemiplegia, diplegia, and quadriplegia. Clinical observations included improvement in muscle tone, trunk control, and symmetry. These results constitute the first objective measure, using a control group, supporting the therapeutic value of short leg casting for children with cerebral palsy.
本研究的目的是比较和分析两组脑瘫患儿（接受和未接受短腿石膏固定）在步行方面的变化。16名年龄在10至108个月的痉挛型脑瘫患儿被随机分为短腿石膏固定组和未固定组。在进行10周的神经发育治疗前后，我对所有患儿进行了测试，通过在固定于地面的一段纸上记录墨迹步行模式。测量步长、步宽、足角和脚印清晰度以量化步行模式。使用t检验分析步长、步宽和足角的改善百分比，使用曼-惠特尼U检验分析脚印清晰度的改善百分比。假定α水平为0.05来确定两组之间的差异是否大到具有统计学意义。两组在步长改善百分比上存在显著差异，尽管其他结果不显著。短腿石膏固定在痉挛性偏瘫、双瘫和四肢瘫的治疗中似乎具有价值。临床观察包括肌张力、躯干控制和对称性的改善。这些结果构成了第一项使用对照组的客观测量，支持了短腿石膏固定对脑瘫患儿的治疗价值。
