Gait analysis of patients following total knee replacement: a systematic review.

Gait analysis has been used to objectively measure patients' function following total knee replacement (TKR). Whilst the findings of this research may have important implications for the understanding of the outcomes of TKR, the methodology of existing research appears to be diverse and many of the results inconsistent. The objective of this systematic review was to synthesise reported findings and to summarise the methods used by researchers in this field. Eleven articles published in the medical literature that used gait analysis to compare patients following TKR with controls were identified for inclusion in this review. Each article was assessed for methodologic quality and data was compared across studies through the calculation of effect sizes. Consistently large effect sizes showed that patients following TKR walk with less total knee motion during gait and with less knee flexion during swing than controls. Kinetic discrepancies between patients and controls were also identified. The substantial methodologic differences between studies may contribute to the inconsistencies in reported findings for many gait outcomes. Future research is needed to determine the clinical relevance of these findings.