Gait abnormalities in children

Antalgic gait (painful):

• reduced weight bearing on the affected side
• multitude of possible causes
• A smaller child may present with unwillingness to WB
• May be observed in JIA

Circumduction gait:

• As the legs swing forward - excessive hip abduction
• Seen in leg length discrepancy, stiff joints as in JIA, unilateral spasticity in cerebral palsy

Spastic gait:

• Stiff, foot-dragging with foot inversion - often seen in UMN disease (diplegic/quadriplegic cerebral palsy, stroke)

Ataxic gait:

• Instability with an alternating narrow to wide base
• Seen in ataxic cerebral palsy, cerebellar ataxia, friedreich’s ataxia

Trendelenburg gait: