The ground reaction force in the gait of intoeing children

One hundred twenty-four intoeing and 80 age-matched normal children were studied using the Kistler force plate. Intoeing gait was usually caused by increased femoral anteversion (IFA), internal tibial torsion (ITT), or metatarsus adductus (MAD). Thirty-five children showing spontaneous correction and a return to normal gait (COR) were singled out. Our results confirmed that there were variations of the ground reaction force (GRF) in three directions in the different groups, particularly in the vertical and medial-lateral components. Alterations of magnitude of GRF or duration of stance phase was found to be significant compared with normal subjects. On this basis, we suggest that dynamic forces are related to the remodeling of the epiphyseal plate or respond to actions of the plantar flexors, although we could not discern a specific correlation between them.