Reliability of plantar pressure and postural control measures of children from 4 to 12 years: analysis by baropodometry

Abstract Aim: Baropodometry is used to map pressure areas and plantar pressure oscillation, however, children's evaluation reliability is not established. To establish the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of baropodometry for analysis of plantar support and postural control (stabilometry) of children. Materials and Methods: Reliability study. The sample consisted of 112 healthy children of both sexes; aged 4 to 12 years old. For the baropodometer analysis, children were positioned in orthostatic position, bipodal support, with parallel and bare feet during four rounds of 15-second evaluations, executed by two independent evaluators. In order to establish the reliability of the results at different age ranges, participants were divided into two groups: children ages 7 years and younger (n = 44) and children aged 8 to 12 years old (n = 68). The variables analyzed were pressure area and maximum plantar pressure, area, and amplitude of oscillation of the center of pressure. Results: Reliability was rated from good to excellent for the intra- and inter-evaluators (ICC 0.81-0.86 and ICC 0.87-0.95, respectively) on plantar pressure variables, and poor to moderate for the center of pressure oscillations (ICC 0.33-0.55; ICC 0.47-0.57, intra and inter-evaluators, respectively). Conclusion: Excellent baropodometry reliability was observed when analyzing children's plantar pressure at different age groups, and a single evaluation established reliable results. However, the stabilometry analysis with a baropodometer has poor reliability, and therefore, it should not be used for children aged 4 to 12 for postural control.

Treatment of the injury of the plantar plate on the second metatarsophalangeal joint with dorsal approach and Weil osteotomy / 中国骨伤

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the clinical results of dorsal approach and Weil osteotomy in treating the injury of the plantar plate in second metatarsophalangeal joint.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Eight feet with plantar plate tear in five cases were treated by plantar plate repairment through dorsal approach and Weil osteotomy from June 2012 to December 2013. The mean age of the patients was 52 years old. All the patients were followed up for 6 to 12 months. American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) and visual analogue scale (VAS) were used to evaluate the clinical effect.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The second metatarsophalangeal joint stability recovered and the pain released in all patients. Postoperative VAS was lower and AOFAS was higher than preoperative.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Combined dorsal approach and Weil osteotomy can effectively release the pian of plantar plate, stabilize the metatarsophalangeal joint, decrease the incidence rate of postoperative subluxation and anchylosis in treating plantar plate tears in the second metatarsophalangeal joint.</p>