Evaluation of Spatio-Temporal Gait Parameters and Gait Symmetry In Diabetic Polyneuropathic Individuals With Lower Extremity Burn Injury

Diabetic polyneuropathy, a frequent complication of diabetes, is used to describe sensory, motor and autonomic nerve damage caused by metabolic and micro vessel alterations due to hyperglycaemia. The signs and symptoms of diabetic polyneuropathy vary according to the type of nerve fiber affected. The involvement of the small nerve fibers results in deterioration of the pain and temperature perception, while the impairing of large nerve fibers result in decrease of touch and proprioception sensations. Due to the sensory loss, accidental foot injuries may develop in patients with diabetic polyneuropathy. While the feet constitute a small percentage (3.5%) of the total body surface area, burn injuries of them in patients with diabetic polyneuropathy can cause significant effects on quality of life because impaired wound healing process in diabetics may cause risk of prolonged bed rest and hospitalization period, and increased early and late complications. Therefore, it has an important effects on daily living activities because it causes inadequacies in gait and balance activities due to the negative effects on mobility and weight bearing functions. In studies that examining changes in gait parameters in other diabetic foot complications such as sensory loss, ulceration, and amputation as secondary to diabetic polyneuropathy have shown that these individuals acquire a protective adaptive gait strategies that allow for more controlled gait in the present of proprioceptive deficits such as slower gait speed, smaller step length and in particular increased opposite foot off time in order to shift body weight from injured limb to unaffected side. There's no studies have yet been conducted to investigating of changes in gait parameters in patients who have diabetic polyneuropathy-related lower extremity burn injury. The aim of this case-control study is to examine whether similar gait strategies have been gained in this group of patients, as indicated in the results of previous studies demonstrating protective adaptive gait strategies that adopt under the presence of other diabetic foot complications due to diabetic polyneuropathy.