The 'Entlastungsgang'.: A hip unloading gait as a new conservative therapy for hip pain in the adult

'Entlastungsgang' is a gait modification aiming to unload the hip joint by producing a modified Duchenne-limp (straight spinal column, additional lifting of the pelvis on the side of the swinging leg and a consecutive side shift of the pelvis) and a wide stance gait. Sixteen patients suffering from hip pain caused mainly by hip dysplasia were investigated. They received daily gait training for 12 h combined with intensive physical therapy as in-patients for 3-4 weeks. The external muscle torque acting on the hip joint was determined by 3D-gait analysis before, during and after the gait training. We found a reduction of the muscle torque after gait training to 77.2% of the initial value. At an average follow up of 12 months we found a persisting reduction of the muscle torque to 87.0% at spontaneous gait that was further reduced to 81.3% of the initial value. The hip score for two components of the Merle d'Aubigne and Postel score for pain and walking was significantly improved from 7.4 to 10.8 points. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.