Gait Disorders

Abstract

Identifying a gait disorder is one of the most challenging problems in clinical neurology. Examining natural gait, provocative maneuvers, and thorough examination of the rest of the nervous system is required to make a diagnosis. Patterns of gait abnormalities include frontal, spastic, extrapyramidal, ataxic, waddling, steppage, antalgic, and psychogenic. Unfortunately, many patients cannot be diagnosed with a single gait disorder, and the term “multifactorial gait disorder” is appropriate. When possible, underlying disorders should be treated, but many patients do not have a single treatable condition and require adaptive training and assistive devices.