Heel

About: Heel is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 8971 publications have been published within this topic receiving 134924 citations.

Ankle arthrodesis. Long-term follow-up with gait analysis.

Abstract: A functional assessment of twelve patients after ankle arthrodesis for post-traumatic arthritis was carried out by means of an extensive clinical evaluation and gait analysis after an average follow-up of eight years. A weighted point system was developed to grade ankle function clinically. The data on gait analysis were examined to determine the effect of arthrodesis of the ankle on the over-all pattern of walking. Under conditions of normal daily living while wearing shoes, all patients functioned well after arthrodesis. The gait-analysis data obtained with the patients wearing shoes showed excellent gait characteristics, and the ankle motion that had been lost was compensated for by: (1) motion of the small joints of the ipsilateral foot; (2) altered motion of the ankle in the contralateral limb; and (3) appropriate footwear. While the patients were walking barefooted, some adverse effects of fusion of the ankle were evident. Velocity of gait was slowed and the length of stride was shortened in all twelve patients. One patient whose ankle had been fused in an equinus position had a back-knee deformity during stance phase, and another walked only on his toes when he was without shoes. The gait patterns of all patients were markedly improved when they were wearing shoes with appropriate heel heights.

Treatment of idiopathic clubfoot. A thirty-year follow-up note.

Abstract: We evaluated forty-five patients who had seventy-one congenital clubfeet. The average age was thirty-four years (range, twenty-five to forty-two years). Twenty-nine of these patients had been evaluated and reported on in 1980. We performed pedobarographic and electrogoniometric analyses in addition to the clinical and radiographic studies performed previously. With the use of pain and functional limitation as the outcome criteria, thirty-five (78 per cent) of the forty-five patients had an excellent or good outcome compared with eighty-two (85 per cent) of ninety-seven individuals who did not have congenital deformity of the foot. The patient's occupation, passive dorsiflexion as measured with a hand-held goniometer, the antero-posterior calcaneus-fifth metatarsal angle, the total foot pressure time integral, and the number of rapid single-limb toe-ups that could be performed were the only variables that differed significantly between the feet that had an excellent or good result and those that had a poor result (p < 0.05). A comparison of the feet that had an excellent or good outcome with those that had a poor outcome with regard to body-mass index, peak pressure under the heel, and force time integral under the metatarsal heads revealed a p value that was between 0.05 and 0.08 for each variable. The technique of treatment led to good long-term results in our patients who had clubfoot. The data suggest that a sedentary occupation and avoidance of excessive weight gain may improve the over-all long-term result. Excessive weakening of the triceps surae may predispose patients to a poor result; therefore, it is prudent to avoid overlengthening of this muscle. The outcome could not be predicted from the radiographic result.