Longitudinal Course of Gait Kinematics and Kinetics After Guided Growth for Idiopathic Genu Valgum: Three-Dimensional Gait Analysis to Skeletal Maturity

Background/Objectives: Guided growth changes frontal-plane gait mechanics in idiopathic genu valgum, but the durability of these adaptations through skeletal maturity remains uncertain. This study examined their long-term course.

Methods

Seventeen participants (31 treated limbs) underwent three-dimensional gait analysis before plate insertion (t0), shortly before plate removal (t1), and after skeletal maturity (t2). Primary outcomes were the mean frontal knee angle during single support and the early- and late-stance peaks and stance mean of the internal frontal-plane knee moment. Longitudinal changes were assessed using linear mixed-effects models accounting for participant and limb dependence. Exploratory comparisons used laboratory reference data from 11 healthy participants.