Effect of painful Ledderhose disease on dynamic plantar foot pressure distribution during walking: a case-control study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Plantar pressure distribution during walking in patients with painful Ledderhose disease is unknown. RESEARCH QUESTION: Do patients with painful Ledderhose disease have an altered plantar pressure distribution during walking compared to individuals without foot pathologies? It was hypothesized that plantar pressure is shifted away from the painful nodules. METHODS: Pedobarography data of 41 patients with painful Ledderhose disease (cases, mean age: 54.2 ± 10.4 years) was collected and compared to pedobarography data from 41 individuals without foot pathologies (controls, mean age: 21.7 ± 2.0 years). Peak Pressure (PP), Maximum Mean Pressure (MMP) and Force-Time Integral (FTI) were calculated for eight regions (heel, medial midfoot, lateral midfoot, medial forefoot, central forefoot, lateral forefoot, hallux and other toes) under the soles of the feet. Differences between cases and controls were calculated and analysed by means of linear (mixed models) regression. RESULTS: Proportional differences in PP, MMP and FTI showed increased values for the cases compared to the controls, especially in the heel, hallux and other toes regions, and decreased values in the medial- and lateral midfoot regions. In naïve regression analysis, being a patient was a predictor for increased- and decreased values for PP, MMP and FTI for several regions. When dependencies in the data were taken into account with linear mixed-model regression analysis, the increased- and decreased values for the patients were most prevalent for FTI at the heel, medial midfoot, hallux and other toes regions. SIGNIFICANCE: In patients with painful Ledderhose disease, during walking, a shift of pressure was found towards the proximal and distal foot regions, while offloading the midfoot regions.