Approach to rehabilitation treatment of gait disorders in patients with genu recurvatum.

Background. The definition of genu recurvatum is the presence of more than 5° hyperextension of the knee. Biomechanically, genu recurvatum appears during the stance phase, with the ground reaction force line passing anterior to the knee. From a practical point of view, retraining the gait in patients with genu recurvatum is relatively complex because of diverse etiologies. Aims. To present multiple approaches of rehabilitation strategies and their outcomes for treating patients with genu recurvatum. Methods. We performed a systematic literature review in different databases, PubMed, Science Direct, using the following key words: "genu recurvatum", "knee hyperextension", "rehabilitation". Results. Ten articles met our selection criteria. Three assessed retraining methods (functional electric stimulation or electrogoniometric feedback), five articles focused on orthoses and two articles on botulinum toxin. Conclusions. Genu recurvatum has a multifactorial etiology mechanism such as spasticity, muscle weakness and many others, and among post-stroke patients almost half of them develop genu recurvatum. Genu recurvatum is a disability factor, affecting gait, the quality of life of patients, generating pain and increasing the risk of fall-related injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]