Comparison of gait, runing and balance parameters in children with obstetric brachial plexus injury and with typical development

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of differentiated state characteristics on gait and running parameters as well as balance parameters in patients with obstetric brachial plexus. Fifty-five children with OBPI with a mean age of 6.35±1.40 years and 45 healthy subjects with typical development, with a mean age of 6.09±0.76 years were included in the study. Demographic information of both groups and the degree of injury of children with OBPI according to the Narakas Classification System were recorded. In the study, the walking and running evaluations of the groups were evaluated with the GAITRite® (CIR System INC. Clifton, NJ 07012) system. Postural sway values of postural control parameters were obtained with the Balance Check Screener force platform (Model BP5050; Bertec, Columbus, OH, USA). As a result, demographic characteristics between the groups were found to be similar (p˃0.05). No significant difference was found in the comparison of the time-distance characteristics of the gait between the study groups. However, a significant increase in the support surface was found in OBPI cases when the running parameters were compared (p<0.05). In addition, antero-posterior oscillation values were found to be statistically significantly increased in patients with OBPI compared to healthy subjects with typical development (p<0.05). It was determined that the amount of oscillation in the medio-lateral direction with eyes closed was higher in OBPI cases and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). It was observed that there was no difference between the comparison results between the groups in terms of medio-lateral oscillation values obtained with eyes open on hard and soft ground (p˃0.05). It is thought that the asymmetric development of the upper extremities and the consequent emergence of compensations as a result of injury in patients with OBPI also negatively affect the development of postural control and running parameters. In this context, it is recommended to evaluate the time-distance characteristics of gait, postural control and balance losses from a holistic perspective, instead of treatment approaches involving only the affected extremity in individuals with OBPI, and to create treatment strategies for these in the earliest period and include them in treatment programs.