Children with diplegic cerebral palsy develop progressive musculoskeletal deformities with deterioration in their gait. Multilevel surgery is a well-established treatment modality involving a combination of soft tissue lengthening and correction of bony deformities.

At Bristol Royal Children's Hospital we have identified a cohort of 45 children with diplegic cerebral palsy who have undergone multilevel surgery. Video gait analysis had been performed pre-operatively and three years post-operatively. We utilised the Edinburgh Visual Gait Score (EVGS)^[1], a validated system that allows direct comparison with gait videos taken during different periods of the patient's treatment. Seventeen measurements are taken per limb at each stage. The patients were also categorised according to the Functional Walking Score (FWS) ^[2] that assesses their level of independence.

Post-operative results demonstrate a significant improvement in gait score on both the EVGS and FWS. Patients whose gait was more severely affected prior to surgery had the greatest improvement in mobility and functional scores. Patients consistently had significant improvements in hip and knee extension in stance phase, with more modest improvement in knee flexion in swing with persistent co-contraction. Both initial contact and heel lift were consistently abnormal pre-operatively, but few patients achieved a heel strike and normal heel lift post-operatively. We are proceeding with a long-term follow-up of this cohort of patients at 15 years following surgery.

The combination of using detailed video gait analysis with functional assessment is a valuable tool in retrospective assessment of patients' outcome following surgery. It gives a quantitative evaluation of progression over time as well as allowing comparison with a cohort of patients to estimate the future level of functional independence.