Differential Diagnosis And Management Of Common Acute Eye And Musculoskeletal Conditions Practice Test

Gait pattern caused by weakness of the hip abductors, particularly the gluteus medius and minimus, during single-leg stance. When you stand on one leg, these muscles keep the pelvis level. If they’re weak—as can happen with hip displacement or instability—the pelvis drops toward the opposite side, and the person may lean the trunk over the stance leg or develop a waddling step to compensate. This is the hallmark Trendelenburg gait. Other patterns don’t fit the mechanism here: an antalgic gait stems from pain altering stance time, a hemiplegic gait from a central nerve lesion causing leg drift or circumduction, and a spastic diplegic gait from tone abnormalities (as in cerebral palsy). In hip displacement, the key issue is abductor weakness leading to an unstable pelvis during single-leg support, i.e., Trendelenburg gait.