Knee Kinematic Improvement after Total Knee Replacement Using a Simplified Quantitative Gait Analysis Method

Objective: the aim of this study was to extract suitable spatiotemporal and kinematic parameters todetermine how total knee replacement (tkr) alters patients’ knee kinematics during gait, using a rapidand simplified quantitative two-dimensional gait analysis procedure.methods: two-dimensional kinematic gait pattern of 10 participants were collected before and after thetkr surgery, using a 60 hz camcorder in sagittal plane. then, the kinematic parameters were extractedusing the gait data. a student t-test was used to compare the group-average of spatiotemporal and peakkinematic characteristics in the sagittal plane. the knee condition was also evaluated using the oxfordknee score (oks) questionnaire to ensure that each subject was placed in the right group.results: the results showed a significant improvement in knee flexion during stance and swing phasesafter tkr surgery. the walking speed was increased as a result of stride length and cadenceimprovement, but this increment was not statistically significant. both post-tkr and control groupsshowed an increment in spatiotemporal and peak kinematic characteristics between comfortable and fastwalking speeds.conclusion: the objective kinematic parameters extracted from 2d gait data were able to showsignificant improvements of the knee joint after tkr surgery. the patients with tkr surgery were alsoable to improve their knee kinematics during fast walking speed equal to the control group. these resultsprovide a good insight into the capabilities of the presented method to evaluate knee functionality beforeand after tkr surgery and to define a more effective rehabilitation program.