Neuro-orthopedic surgery offers an effective treatment option for children with cerebral palsy (CP) who face walking impairments due to soft tissue and bone alterations as they grow.
The literature suggests two summary indices to understand and measure these gait deviations better: the Gait Profile Score (GPS) and the Gait Variable Score (GVS). These indices quantify how much a patient’s movement deviates from the healthy reference curves of typical walking patterns.
Our latest publication on GPS and GVS
We are excited to announce the publication of our latest paper titled “Use of Gait Profile Score and Gait Variable Score to Quantify Patient Improvement Immediately Following Neuro-Orthopedic Surgery in Patients with Cerebral Palsy – A Prospective Cohort Study” in the prestigious Journal Gait and Posture.
You can access the full text here.
In this new paper, we explore the benefits and limitations of GPS and GVS in describing the gait pattern of children with CP undergoing different procedures of neuro-orthopedic surgery. Additionally, we examine how these indices perform in identifying patients who improve or worsen after surgery, comparing the results with expert clinical opinion, which remains the gold standard for interpreting instrumental gait analysis.
Children were assessed both before surgery and after one month of rehabilitation. Overall, GPS decreased at the follow-up, reflecting improved gait patterns.
GPS and GVS provide synthetic, easy-to-interpret values that can help simplify communication between clinicians, especially those not specialized in gait analysis.
A team effort
This paper results from great teamwork started in 2022 at the Gait & Motion Analysis Laboratory of the Sol et Salus Hospital, directed by Dr. Davide Mazzoli.
In 2023, with an oral presentation of the project by Dr. Giacomo Basini, we won the First Prize at the XXIII SIAMOC Congress. We previously celebrated this achievement in a dedicated post.
Congratulations to all the Authors!
