Analysis of gait patterns before and after foot arthrodesis surgery
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Analysis of gait patterns before and after foot arthrodesis surgery
IRAS ID
204157
Contact name
Mark Tagoe
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Chelsea & Westminster Hosptials NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
6 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The fusing of joints (known as arthrodesis) is a widely used surgical treatment for certain common foot problems. Fusing joints in the foot may help individuals to walk without pain or improve the shape of the foot to help it function better. Arthrodesis is used to treat many conditions, such as arthritic flat foot, osteoarthritis of the great toe and in bunion corrections It is well known that fusing foot joints can help with many foot problems. However, less is known about how this type of surgery affects or improves walking patterns (known as gait). Presently, there are few published studies that investigate how arthrodesis surgery affects gait. To better understand how this type of surgery affects gait, we aim to measure certain aspects of how individuals walk before and after surgery so they can be compared to determine what effect surgery has had on gait. We will use two devices to measure gait: 3D kinematics and Force-plate measurements. 3D kinematics uses cameras to track body parts and measure how far they move and calculate motion in joints. Force-plates measure forces produced when a limb strikes the ground during walking. The combined data from these approaches can be used to determine how walking has changed after surgery and whether the studied parameters have improved. To aid our analysis, we will also be collecting gait data using the same techniques from a group of untreated, healthy, age and BMI matched individuals to help us compare the surgically treated group to an untreated group who do not have foot problems.
REC name
London - Chelsea Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/1771
Date of REC Opinion
18 Dec 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion