Tandem Gait Test Definition

This means that the front foot has to be placed such that its heel touches to the toe of the standing foot.

Tandem gait test definition. The test is performed as follows. These causes must be excluded before the unbalance can be attributed to a cerebellar lesion. A physical and neurological examination can diagnose gait or balance problems. Neurologists sometimes ask patients to walk in a straight line using tandem gait as a test to help diagnose ataxia especially truncal ataxia because sufferers of these disorders will have an unsteady gait.

Patients with truncal ataxia caused by damage to the cerebellar vermis or associated pathways will have particular difficulty with this task since they tend to have a wide based unsteady gait and become more unsteady when attempting to keep their feet close together. Tandem gait is a gait method of walking or running where the toes of the back foot touch the heel of the front foot at each step. Abnormal gait or a walking abnormality is when a person is unable to walk in the usual way. Abnormalities in heel to toe walking tandem gait may be due to ethanol intoxication weakness poor position sense vertigo and leg tremors.

This may be due to injuries underlying conditions or problems with the legs and feet. Tandem gait is a gait where the toes of the back foot touch the heel of the front foot at each step. A tandem gait test is one where the individual has to walk heel to toe. Performance testing can then be used to.

Tandem gait have the patient walk heel to toe. The original romberg test. Neurologists sometimes ask patients to walk in a straight line using tandem gait as a test to help diagnose ataxia especially truncal ataxia because sufferers of these disorders will have an unsteady gait. Test tandem gait by asking the patient to walk a straight line while touching the heel of one foot to the toe of the other with each step.

A good way to test balance as well as strength of the distal lower extremities is to have the patient heel and toe walk. The patient is asked to remove his shoes and stand with his two feet together. The arms are held next to the body or crossed in front of the body. The clinician asks the patient to first stand quietly with eyes open and subsequently with eyes closed.