Marta Gimunová

Cambios en la alineación de las extremidades inferiores durante la marcha en fases avanzadas del embarazo y el efecto de calzado especial

The hip, knee and foot pain are common complaints during pregnancy as pregnancy affects the musculoskeletal health. The purpose of the study was to investigate the pregnancy gait adaptations and the effect of special footwear. 16 pregnant women divided into a control and experimental group, who obtained the special footwear, participating at 27, 32 and 37 gestational weeks in data collection sessions. At each session participants were asked to go barefoot in a space captured by the Simi Motion®. To compare the differences between different collection sessions, effect size obtained by Cohen’s d was used. Results of this study showed, that using the tested footwear enabled a verticalization of the pelvic segment, increase of the maximum hip extension angle, reduction of foot-floor angle and maintaining the same height of the knee during walking in the experimental group, possibly decreasing the risk of pain development in these body segments during pregnancy.

Changes in lower extremity blood flow during advancing phases of pregnancy and the effects of special footwear

Abstract Background During pregnancy, a number of changes affecting venous blood flow occur in the circulatory system, such as reduced vein wall tension or increased exposure to collagen fibers. These factors may cause blood stagnation, swelling of the legs, or endothelial damage and consequently lead to development of venous disease. Objectives The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of special footwear designed to improve blood circulation in the feet on venous blood flow changes observed during advancing phases of pregnancy. Methods Thirty healthy pregnant women participated in this study at 25, 30, and 35 weeks of gestation. Participants were allocated at random to an experimental group (n = 15) which was provided with the special footwear, or a control group (n = 15). At each data collection session, Doppler measurements of peak systolic blood flow velocity and cross-sectional area of the right popliteal vein were performed using a MySonoU6 ultrasound machine with a linear transducer (Samsung Medison). The differences were compared using Cohen’s d test to calculate effect size. Results With advancing phases of pregnancy, peak systolic velocity in the popliteal vein decreased significantly in the control group, whereas it increased significantly in the experimental group. No significant change in cross-sectional area was observed in any of the groups. Conclusions Findings in the experimental group demonstrated that wearing the footwear tested may prevent venous blood velocity from reducing during advanced phases of pregnancy. Nevertheless, there is a need for further investigation of the beneficial effect on venous flow of the footwear tested and its application.