Knee-Ankle-Foot Orthosis (KAFO): Controlling the Knee, Ankle and Foot

The knee-ankle-foot orthosis (KAFO) is a lower-limb orthotic device developed by Lê Hoàn Prosthetics & Orthotics, designed to support and control the knee, ankle and foot together. It is commonly prescribed for muscle weakness or paralysis, knee-ankle instability, lower-limb deformities, or to support rehabilitation after injury.

Structurally, a KAFO consists of an above-knee section, a knee joint, a lower-leg section, an ankle joint and a foot section, connected by joints and straps that allow flexible adjustment for each patient. It is made from durable materials such as metal, thermoplastic or composite, and functions to control movement of the knee, ankle and foot, stabilize the lower limb, prevent deformity and injury, and reduce pain while improving comfort. Each brace is custom designed and fabricated for the individual patient to ensure a close, optimally supportive fit.

One important consideration: when a KAFO's ankle joint is fully locked, energy expenditure during walking increases and the gait tends to become jerkier and harder to balance, while the immobilized ankle is also more prone to stiffness over time. For suitable cases, a KAFO with a range-of-motion ankle joint is therefore often preferred over a fully rigid design. KAFOs are also effective for correcting functional deformities such as knock-knee or bow-leg, especially in children under five, while the deformity is still at a functional (not yet structural) stage.

A specialized variant is the ischial-weight-bearing above-knee KAFO, which transfers load down through the brace to the ground rather than through the femur and tibia shafts — useful for slow-healing fractures. For example, a 56-year-old patient with a comminuted tibia-fibula fracture still had not achieved bony union after 1.5 months in a plaster cast; rather than continue casting (which could take 9 months to a year and cause pain, joint stiffness and a high risk of pressure sores from prolonged immobilization), the patient was switched to an ischial-weight-bearing KAFO, allowing normal walking while avoiding load on the injured bone, and could be removed for hygiene and rehabilitation exercises — far more flexible than a cast.

Contact Lê Hoàn Prosthetics & Orthotics at hotline 0985211888 for advice on the KAFO best suited to your condition.