Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 1, 2025
Lower-Limb Biomechanical Characteristics Associated with Unplanned Gait Termination Under Different Walking Speeds
Published on: August 25, 2020
Lower limbs biomechanical deficits associated with stage 1 and 2 posterior tibialis tendon dysfunction during walking
Ahmed Dami1, Dominic Chicoine2, Eléna Payen1
1Department of Human Kinetics, University du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 3351, Boul. des Forges, Trois-Rivières, QC G8Z 4M3, Canada; Groupe de Recherche sur les Affections Neuromusculosquelettiques (GRAN), 3351, Boul. des Forges, Trois-Rivières, QC G8Z 4M3, Canada.
Background:
Posterior tibialis tendon dysfunction (PTTD) is a chronic degenerative musculoskeletal disorder causing a progressive ankle complex and arch collapse altering lower limb biomechanics. However, biomechanical changes associated with stage 1 and 2 PTTD need to be better characterized during walking to guide clinical recommendations and improve non-operative treatments.
Research Question:
What are the lower limb kinematic and kinetic differences between individuals with stage 1 (PTTD1), individuals with stage 2 PTTD (PTTD2) and healthy counterparts during gait?
Methods:
Sixteen PTTD1, 11 PTTD2 and 20 healthy controls were included in this multicentric case-control study to compare their lower limb gait biomechanics. Kinematic and kinetic data were recorded using a three-dimensional motion capture system and a force plate. One-dimensional statistical parametric mapping was used to compare lower limb joint motion and moments between groups during the stance phase.
Results:
PTTD1 had minimal biomechanical differences compared with the control group. In contrast, PTTD2 presented significant differences compared with controls and PTTD1. At the ankle, PTTD2 exhibited greater plantarflexion and eversion angles and midfoot dorsiflexion and inversion angles throughout stance compared with controls and PTTD1. PTTD2 presented lower midfoot abduction moments compared with controls. These changes led PTTD2 to exhibit knee and hip adaptative biomechanical mechanisms in the frontal and transverse planes in late stance. PTTD2 had greater knee internal rotation angles and smaller knee external rotation moments compared to controls. PTTD2 had smaller hip internal rotation angles compared with PTTD1 and smaller hip adduction moments compared with controls.
Significance:
PTTD1 showed minimal biomechanical differences compared to controls and important differences compared to PTTD2. The lower limb biomechanical deficits accentuate as the pathology advances from stage 1 to stage 2. PTTD is a progressive condition needing early clinical management at stage 1 to avoid successive biomechanical changes associated with stage 2.
