pelvic rotation, one of the five major kinematic determinants of gait, involving the alternate rotation of the pelvis to the right and the left of the body’s central axis. The usual pelvic rotation occurring at each hip joint in most healthy individuals is approximately 4 degrees to each side of the central axis. Pelvic rotation occurs during the stance phase of gait and involves a medial to lateral circular motion. During normal locomotion or walking, considered a progressive sinusoidal movement, pelvic rotation serves to minimize the vertical displacement of the body’s center of gravity. Analysis of pelvic rotation is often a factor in diagnosis of various orthopedic diseases, deformities, and abnormal bone conditions and in the correction of pathological gaits. Compare knee-ankle interaction, knee-hip flexion, lateral pelvic displacement, pelvic tilt.
