Use of osteopathic manipulative treatment to manage compensated trendelenburg gait caused by sacroiliac somatic dysfunction

Gait dysfunctions are commonly encountered in the primary care setting. Compensated Trendelenburg gait is a gait dysfunction that was originally described in patients with weakness of ipsilateral hip abduction. This condition is thought to result from neuronal injury or myopathy. No treatment modalities currently exist for compensated Trendelenburg gait. The authors present a case in which osteopathic manipulative treatment may have improved a Trendelenburg gait dysfunction in a man aged 65 years with multiple sclerosis. Evidence of this improvement was obtained with the GaitMat II system for measuring numerous gait parameters. Based on the results reported in the present case, the authors propose that compensated Trendelenburg gait may arise from somatic dysfunction and may be corrected by osteopathic manipulative treatment.