OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of a postoperative strength-training program on the walking of children with cerebral palsy (CP). DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Hospital rehabilitation department. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-nine children with CP (age range 6 to 16 y). After orthopedic surgery, the control group (n = 20) followed a conventional physiotherapy (PT) program, and the strength-training group (n = 19) followed a strength-training program in addition to the conventional PT. Twenty-nine age-matched healthy children were used as references. INTERVENTION: A 9-month strength-training program. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Spatiotemporal, kinematic, and kinetic parameters during gait analysis were analyzed before (E0) and 1 year after (E1) the surgery. For 22 children, a 2-year postoperative gait analysis (E2) took place as well. RESULTS: At E1, several kinematic and kinetic parameters improved, although there was no significant difference between the groups. Spatiotemporal parameters showed a worsening at E1 and a recovery to preoperative values at E2. CONCLUSIONS: The examined parameters may be more substantially influenced by factors such as the surgery outcome and the variability of pathologic characteristics than by the strength-training program per se. However, a more significant effect of the strength-training may appear if more intense and short-term training protocols are used, considering factors such as patients' motivations, ages, and postoperative statuses.

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