Standing posture and balance modalities in unilateral transfemoral and transtibial amputees

Anis Toumi , Emilie Simoneau-Buessinger (1) , Jennifer Bassement , Christophe Gillet (1) , Paul Allard , Franck Barbier (1) , Sebastien Leteneur (1)

1 LAMIH - Laboratoire d'Automatique, de Mécanique et d'Informatique industrielles et Humaines - UMR 8201

Introduction: Lower limb amputation impairs postural performance that could be characterized by biomechanical parameters. This study is to investigate postural performance of persons with transfemoral and transtibial amputation compared to controls without amputation.Methods: Eight transtibial, nine transfemoral and twelve able-bodied males participated in this study. Lower limb joints, pelvis and trunk angles were obtained from an optoelectronic motion analysis system to evaluate body posture parameters. The mean, range and speed of the center of pressure (CoP) in both antero-posterior and medio-lateral axes as well as the ellipse area covered by 90% of CoP and free moment were calculated using a single force-plate.Results and discussion: Differences in body posture were only noted between the non-amputee and the transtibial groups. Transtibial amputees leaned more forwardly their trunk by 3.5° compared to able-bodied (p = 0.028). The mean CoP position in transfemoral amputees was closer to the non-amputated side than transtibial amputees (p = 0.034) and as compared to the dominant side in non-amputees (p = 0.042). Factor analysis revealed three postural performance modalities. Non-amputees postural performance was characterized solely by body posture parameters. Transfemoral amputees exclusively favored a modality associated with standing balance parameters, whereas transtibial amputees exhibited a mixed modality comprising a combination of postural and balance parameters.Conclusion: These findings support that the level of amputation is characterized by postural performance modalities different from non-amputees. Clinicians could apply this knowledge as part of their routine rehabilitation program to enhance postural and standing balance assessments in unilateral transfemoral and transtibial amputees.

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Anis Toumi, Emilie Simoneau-Buessinger, Jennifer Bassement, Christophe Gillet, Paul Allard, et al.. Standing posture and balance modalities in unilateral transfemoral and transtibial amputees. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 2021, 27, pp.634-639. ⟨10.1016/j.jbmt.2021.05.009⟩. ⟨hal-03463974⟩