This study investigated the relationship between inherent muscle length and torque production in 59 healthy women. We recorded nondominant ankle range-of-motion values for each subject. These values were partitioned into quartiles for two knee positions. Women with "loose" plantar flexor muscles comprised the first quartile, and those with "tight" plantar flexor muscles the fourth quartile. Tig...

Spasticity and muscle weakness is common in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Spasticity can be treated with botulinum neurotoxin-A (BoNT-A), but this drug has also been reported to induce muscle weakness. Our purpose was to describe the effect on muscle strength in the lower extremities after BoNT-A injections in children with CP. A secondary aim was to relate the effect of BoNT-A to gait pat...

Background/objective Tarsal tunnel syndrome is a relatively rare entrapment neuropathy with the lateral and medial plantar nerves entrapped inside of the tarsal tunnel. When conservative treatment fails, standard open decompression of the nerve can be achieved by releasing the flexor retinaculum of the foot through a several-centimetre-long skin incision made along the tarsal tunnel. By contras...

Background To describe the clinical and magnetic resonance imaging findings of ganglion cysts with effusion in the flexor hallucis longus tendon sheath around the hallux to evaluate their origin. Methods Patients with recurrent or painful ganglion cysts around the hallux with effusion in the flexor hallucis longus tendon sheath who underwent surgical treatment at St. Vincent's Hospital from F...

Since diagnostic arthrography of the second metatarsophalangeal joint (MTPJ) has been popularized by Karpman and MacCollum (1), the relationship between plantar plate integrity and digital instability is better understood. Yao et al (2) suggested that an arthrogram of the second MTPJ exhibiting opacification of the flexor tendon sheath is pathognomonic for a plantar plate tear. The plantar plat...

The purpose of this study was to compare sonographic and tenoscopic findings with the purpose of establishing the accuracy and limitations of ultrasonograophy as a non-invasive diagnostic modality in evaluating the DFTS and its enclosed tendons. The medical records from 22 horses which underwent tenoscopic desmotomy of the palmar/plantar annular ligament were evaluated in a retrospective study....

OBJECTIVE To quantitatively evaluate the effect of motor nerve branch block and neurotomy of the soleus nerve on triceps surae spasticity, reviewing 2 cases. METHODS Beside clinical assessment, we carried out a quantitative measurement of the stiffness of the ankle flexor muscles. The path length of the phase diagram between elastic and viscous stiffness quantifies the reflex response to move...

Murphy, P. R. Tonic and phasic discharge patterns in toe flexor -motoneurons during locomotion in the decerebrate cat. J Neurophysiol 87: 286 –294, 2002; 10.1152/jn.00917.2000. To investigate the specificity of fusimotor ( ) drive during locomotion, -efferents were recorded from the flexor digitorum longus (FDL) and flexor hallucis longus (FHL) nerves in a decerebrate cat preparation. These ner...