European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine 2021 Feb 23

DOI: 10.23736/S1973-9087.21.06395-4

Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Gait analysis of a patient who underwent complete resection of the patella and quadriceps femoris for soft tissue sarcoma

Kazuhiro TANAKA ¹ ✉, Masaya ANAN ², Yuta TSUBOUCHI ³, Tatsuya IWASAKI ¹, Masanori KAWANO ¹, Ichiro ITONAGA ¹, Shinichi IKEDA ⁴, Masashi KATAOKA ², Souichi SUENOBU ⁵, Hiroshi TSUMURA ¹

¹ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University, Oita, Japan; ² Physical Therapy Course of Study, Faculty of Welfare and Health Sciences, Oita University, Oita, Japan; ³ Oita University Hospital Rehabilitation Center, Oita University, Oita, Japan; ⁴ Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University, Oita, Japan; ⁵ Division of General Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University, Oita, Japan

BACKGROUND: The knee extension mechanism including the quadriceps femoris muscles and patella plays a crucial role in the stance phase of a normal gait cycle. We performed gait analysis of a patient who had undergone complete resection of the knee extension mechanism.
CASE REPORT: An 8-month-old boy developed infantile fibrosarcoma of the right knee and underwent resection of the quadriceps femoris muscles, patella, and patellar tendon. The gait analysis performed at 8 years of age demonstrated that he could maintain the knee joint extension position during the stance phase. Increased muscle activities in the hamstring and gastrocnemius were observed.
CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: The results suggest that the hamstring and gastrocnemius muscles might play a role in maintaining the knee extension position during the stance phase. We suggest the importance of reinforcing these muscles in rehabilitation for patients who lost the knee extension mechanism.

KEY WORDS: Gait analysis; Sarcoma; Knee extension mechanism; Patella; Quadriceps femoris