Strain on the gastrocnemii and hamstrings affecting standing balance on an inclined plane in spastic cerebral palsy....

The purpose of this study was to use an non-invasive method to determine whether strain on the gastrocnemii and hamstrings influences postural balance in spastic cerebral palsy (CP). Changes in alignment during standing posture with subjects positioned on a platform that was gradually inclined were measured in 10 normal children and 11 children with CP. The changes in postural alignment were plotted and geometric models used to determine the lines where the gastrocnemii and hamstrings were maximally stretched. In this way the relationship between postural alignment and the amount of strain on the gastrocnemii and hamstrings was investigated. On the inclined platform, which caused ankle joints to become dorsiflexed as the inclination angle increased, the gastrocnemii began to be strained and the hip joints began to be flexed (trunk bent forward) at the same time. In the children with CP, the gastrocnemii were more strained by smaller degrees of inclination. Furthermore, there was one child with CP whose hamstrings were also strained on the inclined platform. We confirmed that postural balance was affected by strain on the gastrocnemii and hamstrings.