Type of limp | Characteristics | Possible etiology |
Antalgic gait | Most common; short-stance phase caused by pain in the weight-bearing extremity | - Fracture (including toddler or Salter I fracture)
- Unilateral slipped capital femoral epiphysis
- Apophysitis
- Soft tissue injury
- Transient synovitis
- Osteomyelitis
- Septic or other arthritis
- Osteochondritis dissecans
- Hemarthrosis
- Vasoocclusive crisis
- Bone pain (leukemia, benign or malignant bone tumor)
- Foot foreign body
- Painful foot lesions (eg, plantar wart, hand-foot-mouth disease, or immunoglobulin A vasculitis [Henoch-Schönlein purpura])
|
Trendelenburg gait | Downward pelvic tilt during the swing phase caused by weakness or spasm in the contralateral gluteus medius muscle | - Legg-Calvé-Perthes
- Unilateral slipped capital femoral epiphysis (moderate to severe chronic slip)
- Developmental dysplasia of the hip
- Juvenile dermatomyositis
|
Steppage gait | Seen with a foot drop; presents with exaggerated hip and knee flexion during the swing phase to clear the dropped foot from the floor | - Peroneal nerve compression or trauma
- Neurologic diseases which cause loss of dorsiflexion of the ankle (eg, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder)
|
Toe-walking gait | Child walks on their toes caused by heel pain or by increased flexor muscle tone in the lower leg | - Mild cerebral palsy
- Sever disease
- Heel foreign body
- Acute calf myositis (influenza A)
- Idiopathic
- Tethered spinal cord
|
Vaulting gait | The knee is hyperextended and locked at the end of the stance phase of the gait and the child vaults over the extremity | - Limb length discrepancy
- Abnormal knee mobility (eg, juvenile idiopathic arthritis)
|
Stooping gait | Patient shuffles with hip flexed due to irritation of the psoas muscle by intraabdominal inflammation | - Appendicitis
- Pelvic inflammatory disease
- Psoas muscle abscess
|