Gait Findings in the Adolescent Subject With a Stiff Hip

BACKGROUND:Adolescent subjects with severe unilateral hip disease are often stiff and painful yet have limited surgical options. Although hip fusion has been used successfully to minimize pain, acquired gait compensations after arthrodesis are factors felt to lead to knee and back pain over time. However, these gait compensations may already be present in a person with a stiff hip. The purpose of this study was to describe the quantitative gait findings of the adolescent subject with a unilateral stiff hip and to determine whether these findings are similar to those of subjects presenting after arthrodesis. METHODS:This study was a retrospective review of 6 subjects seen in a motion analysis laboratory between 2005 and 2009 (age 13 to 17 y). All adolescents had been referred to the motion analysis laboratory for a routine clinical gait study. Subjects were selected for this study based on kinematic sagittal plane hip motion found to be