Orthopedic Disorders in School Children With Down Syndrome With Special Reference to the Incidence of Joint Laxity

Gait and Balance

“…Under these constraints they produce gait patterns that may differ from the ones of people without ID or any other neuromuscular or musculoskeletal disorder. On the other hand, deviations from typical gait patters in people with ID may be attributed to symptoms that coexist with the disease, such as hypotonia (Croce et al 1996;Horvat et al 2003), muscle strength deficits (Pitetti et al 1992), impairments in the function of the cerebellum (Pinter et al 2001), joint laxity (Livingstone and Hirst 1986), and reduced plantar flexion moments (Cioni et al 2001;Cipriani et al 2012;Ulrich et al 2004).…”

“…Low performance in several motor skills, including gait and balance is well documented and has multiple intrinsic and extrinsic causes. For instance, causes for impaired balance could be a potential deficit in muscle strength (Pitetti et al 1992), hypotonia (Croce et al 1996;Horvat et al 2003), and joint laxity (Livingstone and Hirst 1986). Beyond motor diseases that are often coherent to ID, inadequate development of the central nervous system, the level of physical activity, and premature aging are some of causes which are analyzed below.…”

Surgical treatment of patellar dislocation in children with Down syndrome: a 3- to 11-year follow-up study

“…Patellofemoral instability in children with Down syndrome is primarily due to general ligamentous laxity and hypotonia of muscles that restrain the patella in the intercondylar notch [7,[17][18][19]. A significant relationship between generalized joint laxity and patellofemoral instability was reported both in children with Down syndrome [20] and in the general population [22].…”

“…Most of these manifestations are related to ligamentous laxity, muscular hypotonia, and joint hypermobility, that are typical of this pathologic condition and may lead to several joint instabilities [17].…”

Besonderheiten in der Behandlung des Hüftgelenks bei Kindern mit dem Down-Syndrom

“…Mit gesteigerter Lebenserwartung rücken Probleme auf dem orthopädischen Fachgebiet vermehrt in den Fokus. Hierzu gehören vor allem -auch bedingt durch die syndromspezifische Hypotonie des Muskel-und Bandapparats -Instabilitäten der HWS, Genua valga, Skoliose, Senkspreizfüße, Patellainstabilität und verschiedene Erkrankungen des Hüftgelenks [8][9][10][11]. Etwa 20% aller Patienten mit dem Down-Syndrom berichten über Beschwerden auf muskuloskeletalem Gebiet.…”