[Treatment of foot drop in orthopaedic practice].

Foot drop is a symptom of many diseases and leads to an unaesthetic limping gait, falls and injuries. The most common cause of foot drop is injury to the common peroneal nerve, which innervates ankle joint and foot extensors. Other causes of foot drop include: sciatic nerve injury, lumbar plexopathies, L4/L5 radiculopathy, central nervous system related neuropathies (anterior horn cell disease, brain tumor). Also compartment syndromes of the lower leg can lead to foot drop deformity. Ankle-foot orthoses (AFO) are helpful in the treatment of paralyzed extensor muscles of the foot. The surgical treatment should be connected with the etiology of the foot drop and can include: neurolysis of the nerve, "end to end" repair, autogenous nerve graft procedures, nerve transfers, direct neuromuscular neurotization and tendon transfers. In proximal sciatic nerve lesions, nerve transfers and one-stage nerve repair with concomitant tendon transfer are valuable methods of the treatment of drop foot. The aim of the paper is to present pathogenesis and modes of treatment of foot drop deformity encountered in any orthopedic unit.