Effect of the Carbon-Curved Cane Use on Gait in Chronic Stroke-Induced Hemiplegia: A Prospective Single-Case Study

Background: Canes are used by patients with hemiplegia to improve gait and ambulation, but the effects of different types of canes remain unclear. Therefore, this study compared the effectiveness of a newly developed carbon-curved cane (CC-C) with that of a conventional cane using gait analysis of patients with chronic stroke-induced hemiplegia. Case: A 41-year-old male was diagnosed with cardiogenic cerebral infarction 3 years ago. The patient is independent in his activities of daily living and participates alone in the community using a single-point cane (SP-C). This study utilized an AB design with two conditions: the use of an SP-C and a CC-C. Gait evaluation included a three-dimensional gait analysis and analysis of the ground reaction force (GRF) applied to the cane using a force plate. The main outcomes were the spatiotemporal gait characteristics, and the suboutcomes were range of motion (ROM), center of mass (COM) trajectory, and GRF applied to the cane. Wilcoxon rank-sum test was performed to clarify the difference between SP-C and CC-C use with a significance level of p=0.05. Gait velocity, paretic and nonparetic step length, stride length, cadence, and single-stance time tended to be higher, and the preswing time was lower with CC-C than with SP-C use (p < 0.05). Differences were observed in limb ROM and COM trajectory (p < 0.05) with GRF tending to have a higher propulsion force in CC-C and SP-C having higher braking and medial forces. Conclusion: CC-C improved gait and demonstrated different GRF values than SP-C.