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Foot drop

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Foot drop is a common and distressing problem where there is a weakness of the dorsiflexion muscles in the foot resulting in difficulty in walking and an increased risk of falling (1,2)

The most common cause of foot drop is peroneal neuropathy.

less often it may be due to L5 radiculopathy or polyneuropathy and much less often by sciatic neuropathies, lumbar plexopathies, mononeuritis multiplex, or myopathies.
rarely it can be due to central causes (such as cerebral ischaemia), anterior horn cell diseases, cauda equina compression, and muscle dystrophy - usually these produce other symptoms (1,2)

If a patient has a foot drop, then a clinical indicator to the underlying pathology can be achieved by testing the ankle jerk. If the ankle jerk is absent then an L5 lesion is likely. A normal ankle jerk indicates a possible common peroneal palsy. The ankle jerk will be increased in an upper motor neurone lesion.

Notes:

bilateral foot-drop has been reported as a possible presentation of diabetes mellitus (1)

Reference:

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Foot drop

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