Robotic-Assisted Gait Training Therapies for Pediatric Cerebral Palsy: A Review

Abstract

Background : Children and adolescents with CP experience many types of disability and functional impairment that effect the gait cycle. New robotic gait therapies adapted to pediatric patients provide a safe, highly repetitive, and task-specific therapeutic venue for the rehabilitation and elicitation of a more natural walking gait. While the use of robotic-assisted gait training (RAGT) is a relatively novel therapeutic approach to gait therapy, several studies have examined the efficacy of this therapeutic modality in pediatric patients with CP. Purpose : The purpose of this review is to examine the trends in the therapeutic efficacy of utilizing RAGT therapy as a gait restorative modality for children with CP. Results : The present studies show that RAGT therapy may provide multiple therapeutic benefits to children with CP, including statistically significant improvements in gross motor function and multiple gait characteristics. Also, RAGT therapy may be a safe and favorable complement to current physiotherapy regimens. Conclusion : As various degrees of functional improvement are a noticeable trend among all presented studies, further study in this therapeutic technique is warranted, and implementation of similar therapeutic protocol may be valuable to a rehabilitation care plan. The highly repetitive and task-specific nature of RAGT may provide a valuable paradigm for children with CP whom have never learned a normal gait pattern.