Inadequate hip abductor activation during gait may lead to which lower limb alignment problem?

Inadequate hip abductor activation during gait may lead to which lower limb alignment problem?

• A. Excessive femoral adduction and valgus torque at the knee
• B. Excessive femoral abduction and knee varus
• C. Excessive ankle dorsiflexion only
• D. Excessive hip extension only

Answer: (A)

Hip abductors keep the pelvis level and the femur aligned in the frontal plane during gait. When these muscles don’t activate adequately, the stance leg’s femur tends to move inward (adduct), and the pelvis can tilt toward the stance side. This inward collapse increases the load on the knee in a valgus direction, producing greater knee valgus torque. So the resulting lower limb alignment issue is excessive femoral adduction with knee valgus torque. The other options don’t reflect the typical chain of events from weak hip abductors: they wouldn’t causally lead to isolated ankle dorsiflexion or to excessive hip extension, and excessive femoral abduction with knee varus would be opposite to the inward collapse seen with abductor weakness.

Hip abductors keep the pelvis level and the femur aligned in the frontal plane during gait. When these muscles don’t activate adequately, the stance leg’s femur tends to move inward (adduct), and the pelvis can tilt toward the stance side. This inward collapse increases the load on the knee in a valgus direction, producing greater knee valgus torque. So the resulting lower limb alignment issue is excessive femoral adduction with knee valgus torque. The other options don’t reflect the typical chain of events from weak hip abductors: they wouldn’t causally lead to isolated ankle dorsiflexion or to excessive hip extension, and excessive femoral abduction with knee varus would be opposite to the inward collapse seen with abductor weakness.