Abstract
The purpose of this research was to investigate the kinetic and kinematic changes produced by ankle joint immobilization. Kinetic and kinematic pattern differences between barefoot walking and ankle joint immobilization gait with a crutch were evaluated on a 10 m walkway, using a 3-dimensional motion analysis system combined with two force plates. All subjects were asked about how difficult it was to walk with ankle immobilization. All subjects said `it was difficult to walk' and `rocker movement is difficult'. Around the mid-stance, the peak of knee extension and knee flexion moment increased during ankle immobilization. The results suggest that the knee joint compensates for the lack of ankle movement. We consider that the walking difficulty with ankle immobilization was caused by the ankle immobilization itself, knee hyper-extension, and knee flexion moment at mid-stance. Therefore it is important to improve the walking ability with ankle immobilization. The elimination of knee reverse direction movement and knee flexion moment is important for improving the walking difficulty with ankle immobilization.
