A case series on the effect of dynamic neoprene orthosis on lower limb kinematic variables in children with cerebral palsy.
Sedigheh Sadat Mirbagheri, Mahmood Bahramizadeh, Gholamreza Aminian and 3 others
PMID 37694316WHAT IT FOUND
Five children with crouch gait wore custom neoprene pants for six weeks.
Hip and knee flexion decreased during walking, but responses varied widely. No group-level improvement was proven. Results are individual, not generalizable.
Key findings
01The orthosis decreased hip and knee flexion angles in the gait cycle for children with crouch gait.
02Individual responses varied significantly, with some children showing immediate improvement and others only after six weeks or no change.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only five participants were studied, which is too few to determine if the treatment works for the broader population. There was no control group, so it is impossible to know if changes were due to the garment, the passage of time, or other factors. The study only measured movement in the sagittal plane (forward/backward), ignoring side-to-side or rotational movements. The authors state that results varied widely between children, with no consistent pattern of improvement across the group.
Declared interests
No specific funding sources or conflicts of interest were reported in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this garment will improve gait for your patients. The study showed highly variable individual responses with no group-level benefit, and the small sample size makes it impossible to predict who might benefit.