Preoperative and postoperative assessment of surgical intervention for equinus gait in children with cerebral palsy.

We compared the effects of different methods of surgical correction of equinus gait in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) using pre- and postoperative measurements of gait, electromyography (EMG), range of motion (ROM), and dynamic ankle motion. Operative results significantly improved all variables that produced more normal ankle motion in subjects, although no differences were observed between surgical methods. We conclude that preoperative gait analysis can assist in surgical planning regardless of surgical method for Achilles lengthening and can provide an objective measure of results after surgical correction of equinus deformity.