Foot drop remains a commonly encountered condition in foot and ankle clinics, often referred from neurology or rehabilitation centers with a presumed diagnosis of dorsiflexor weakness. However, through over a decade of managing post-paralytic patients, I have repeatedly encountered cases that defy this narrow definition. Many presents with a gait pattern resembling classic drop foot, yet examination reveals deeper and more complex dysfunction — involving plantar flexors, invertors, and evertors to varying degrees as a spectrum.
To describe this broader functional impairment, I propose the term “flail-drop foot”: a condition in which the dominant complaint is foot drop, but the actual pathology includes a wider, flaccid motor paralysis spectrum. Recognizing this helps distinguish these patients from isolated extensor lag and leads to more tailored surgical solutions.
Mousavian, A. (2025). Beyond Drop Foot: A Spectrum-Based surgical Approach to Flaccid Foot Paralysis. The Archives of Bone and Joint Surgery, 13(8), 457-459. doi: 10.22038/abjs.2025.89888.4073
MLA
Mousavian, A. . "Beyond Drop Foot: A Spectrum-Based surgical Approach to Flaccid Foot Paralysis", The Archives of Bone and Joint Surgery, 13, 8, 2025, 457-459. doi: 10.22038/abjs.2025.89888.4073
HARVARD
Mousavian, A. (2025). 'Beyond Drop Foot: A Spectrum-Based surgical Approach to Flaccid Foot Paralysis', The Archives of Bone and Joint Surgery, 13(8), pp. 457-459. doi: 10.22038/abjs.2025.89888.4073
CHICAGO
A. Mousavian, "Beyond Drop Foot: A Spectrum-Based surgical Approach to Flaccid Foot Paralysis," The Archives of Bone and Joint Surgery, 13 8 (2025): 457-459, doi: 10.22038/abjs.2025.89888.4073
VANCOUVER
Mousavian, A. Beyond Drop Foot: A Spectrum-Based surgical Approach to Flaccid Foot Paralysis. The Archives of Bone and Joint Surgery, 2025; 13(8): 457-459. doi: 10.22038/abjs.2025.89888.4073
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