Orthopaedic problems in the blind

Blindness is a common problem in every society and country. The problem ranges from complete blindness to partially sighted in the affected population. India has close to 12 million visually impaired people. Orthopaedic problems are not uncommon in blind. Orthopaedic Surgeons though had been aware of the postural and gait abnormalities in blind but very few published studies have systematically focused on the effect of blindness on the development of posture and gait.

Case Control study done for the orthopaedic evaluation of the blind and partially sighted individuals. The study population included 242 students of Ahmadi School for the Blind, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh (India), as the cases and another matched set of 250 non-blind children. All the children were assessed for the orthopaedic problems like degree of ligamentous laxity, spinal alignment, foot morphology and alignment of hips, knees and ankles. Standing posture and gait were also examined and recorded. Ligamentous laxity was assessed according to the method adopted by Beighton et al.¹⁰ Chi-square test was applied using IBM SPSS 23.0.

139 children (57.4 %) were found to have laxity of the ligaments. 72 children (29.7 %) had spine deformities, out of which kyphosis was present in 34 (47.2 %), scoliosis in 23 (31.9 %), lordosis in 13 (18.0 %), and meningomyelocele in 2 (2.9 %) children. 119 children (49.1 %) had foot deformities. 37 children (15.2 %) had knee deformity. 22 children (9.0 %) showed evidence of cerebral palsy. 216 children (89.2 %) had varying degrees of postural abnormalities. The data was statistically significant when compared with the control group (P < 0.05).

Blindness causes a wide range of complicated sensory and motor problems that frequently forces people into isolation. Blind rehabilitation requires an interdisciplinary approach. Orthopaedic problems are quite common in blind individuals and should be dealt separately.