pelvic tilt

pelvic tilt, one of the five major kinematic determinants of gait that lowers the pelvis on the side of the swinging lower limb during the walking cycle. Through the action of the hip joint the pelvis tilts laterally downward, adducting the lower limb in the stance phase of gait and abducting the opposite extremity in the swing phase of gait. The knee joint of the non-weight-bearing limb flexes during its swing phase to allow the pelvic tilt. Pelvic tilt helps minimize the vertical displacement of the body’s center of gravity, thus conserving energy during walking. It is often a factor in the diagnosis and treatment of various orthopedic diseases, deformities, and abnormal conditions and in the analysis and correction of pathological gaits. Compare knee-ankle interaction, knee-hip flexion, lateral pelvic displacement, pelvic rotation.