Introduction: The number of neurological conditions that are routinely treated with surgical intervention is relatively limited. For these conditions, the evaluation of treatment efficacy relies primarily on qualitative assessment of symptom improvement. This study analyzed the existing literature related to quantitative gait analysis performed before and after surgery for three different neurological conditions to identify unique gait signatures for each pathology. The three pathologies included in this review are cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM), normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), and Parkinson’s Disease (PD). These conditions are classically treated with spinal decompression, shunt placement, and deep brain stimulation, respectively. Quantitative measurements may allow for objective and more sensitive assessments of treatment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to review the literature and identify the use of quantitative gait analysis to evaluate gait patterns before and after surgical intervention.
Methods: A search of the PubMed and Scopus databases was conducted to identify studies examining patients who underwent surgical intervention for CSM, NPH, and PD. Studies were included if they evaluated at least one quantitative gait parameter in these patients both pre- and post-operatively.
Results: Data involving spatiotemporal, kinematic, and kinetic variables were collected pre- and post- operatively for these three pathologies. By comparing and contrasting overlapping variables in these studies, key areas of significance were identified for each pathology. This analysis enabled the development of a distinct “gait signature” for each pathology based on the significant variables identified.
Conclusion : This review proposes distinct “gait signatures” for CSM, NPH, and PD based on current literature. It highlights important variables to prioritize in routine pre- and post-operative gait analysis for assessing the effectiveness of surgical interventions on motor function. Based on these findings, future work intends to develop and validate a gold-standard screening “tool kit” to be routinely incorporated into the clinical setting for evaluation of a patient’s gait progress before and after surgery.
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