Abstract
Purpose: The lumbosacral motion and sacroiliac joints play an important role in transmitting the forces from the upper body to the lower limb during the gait cycle. Dysfunction within the lower limb will increase the strain on the joints to accommodate the decreased motion resulting in an abnormal gait pattern. Biomechanical pelvic blocking is a treatment protocol that can be used to treat sacroiliac dysfunction. There is no research conducted on whether biomechanical pelvic blocking influences the spatiotemporal parameters of gait. The aim of this study was to determine whether biomechanical pelvic blocking had an immediate effect on the gait parameters using the Zebris FDM gait analysis system. Method: One hundred participants were used in this study and were divided into two equal groups of fifty participants each. Males and females were included and had to be between the age of 18-30 years old. The participants were required to sign an informed consent form and a case history was taken to determine whether they could be included in the study. The initial gait measures were then taken on the Zebris FDM gait analysis system. A physical examination was then performed along with the treatment according to the participants sacroiliac joint restriction. Procedure: Participants in Group A received treatment with the biomechanical pelvic blocks for eight minutes whilst participants in Group B were not treated but were required to be in the prone position for eight minutes as the control group. Participants were then analysed again on the Zebris FDM gait analysis system after treatment to collect the objective data. The Zebris FDM gait analysis system uses force sensors on its calibration plate to analyse static and dynamic parameters of gait. The measurable parameters were calculated on the WinFDM program on a computer which then produces a report of the results. Results: The parametric tests for data analysis was used to compare the data. The Paired t-test was used to analyse the data between the two treatment times within a group. The Independent t-test was used to compare the data between the two groups. Minor changes within the data was found as there were improvements in step length, stance phase, load response phase, midstance phase, swing phase, total vii double support phase, stride length, stride time and cadence. However, they were within the normal range values. Conclusion: There was no statistically significant data in this study to demonstrate that biomechanical pelvic blocking had an immediate effect on the spatiotemporal parameters of gait. However, this treatment method can be used for patients who are contra-indicated to chiropractic manipulation. Since biomechanical pelvic blocking does not reveal significant immediate changes in the sacroiliac joint motion, multiple treatments may be required.
M.Tech. (Chiropractic)