A Review of Drop-foot Corrective Surgery

The late results of 65 tendon-transfer operat i ons fo r drop-foot are rev i ewed, espec i ally i n relat i on to the var i ous surg i cal techn i ques employed. It i s concluded that from the pat i ent's po i nt of vi ew range of movement was more im portant than ga i t. For young pat i ents wi th good pre-operat i ve mob i li ty, si ngle-tendon transfers were preferable, but for pat i ents wi th i n verted, deformed or st i ff fe et, where range of movement was less im portant than stab i li ty, the two-tendon Carayon techn i ques could be preferable.