Clinical trial NCT01265238: Neuro-orthopaedic Surgery in the Treatment of the Spastic Equinovarus Foot
Official title: Study of the Efficacy and Safety of the Neuro-orthopaedic Surgery in the Treatment of the Spastic Equinovarus Foot With ICF Assessment
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Spasticity
Spastic Foot
Stroke
Keywords: Spastic equinovarus foot
Stroke
Neurotomy
Tendon surgery
Lead sponsor: University Hospital of Mont-Godinne
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2010-12-23
Enrollment: 22
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 80
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: CASE_ONLY
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Patients with central neurological disease (stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis) suffering from a spastic equinovarus foot referred to an interdisciplinary spasticity group in a University Hospital

Brief summary: Spastic equinovarus foot (SEF) is a major cause of disability in stroke patients. Treatments may include physical therapy, orthosis, botulinum toxin (BTX) injections, selective tibial neurotomy and tendon lengthening and/or transfer.

Until now, no study has been conducted to assess the result of neuro-orthopaedic surgery in the treatment of SEF.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the benefit of neuro-orthopaedic surgery (selective neurotomy and/or Achilles tendon lengthening and/or tibialis anterior transfer) in case of SEF according to the 3 domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)of the World Health organisation (WHO)

Detailed description: INTRODUCTION

Stroke is the third cause of death and the leading cause of handicap among industrialized countries (1). Spasticity following stroke is responsible for spastic equinovarus foot (SEF) in 18% of cases (2). Spastic equinovarus foot is due to spasticity (muscle hypertonia) of the calf muscles (soleus, gastrocnemius and tibialis posterior), often complicated by contracture and by the weakness of peroneus longus and peroneus brevis muscles (3). Therefore, stroke patients walk slowly, and often require assistive device as orthosis or canes. This disability limits their social participation and their quality of life.

Spastic equinovarus foot treatments include oral medications, physical therapy, orthosis, chemical denervations (botulinum toxin, alcohol or phenol injections), selective neurotomy and orthopedic surgery (3). Selective neurotomy is a neurosurgical procedure consisting in partially and selectively cutting motor branches innervating the spastic muscles providing a permanent treatment of the spasticity (3). Orthopaedic surgery consists in Achilles tendon lengthening and tibialis anterior transfer (3). The efficacy of mixed neur-orthopaedic surgery has never been prospectively assess according to the ICF classification.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the present project is to study the effectiveness of neuro-orthopaedic surgery (neurotomy and tendon surgery) in the treatment of SEF.

The functional assessment will explore the three ICF domains.

METHODS

The investigators will recruit 50 chronic spastic patients presenting with SEF. The surgical treatment will be decided according to the improvement obtained by an anaesthetic diagnostic tibial motor nerve branches block (5) followed by an interdisciplinary discussion.

Patients will be assessed before treatment, 2 months, 1 year and 2 years after treatment among the 3 ICF domains. Impairments will be assessed by the Stoke Impairment Assessment Set (SIAS), the Ashworth and Tardieu scales (spasticity) and the MRC scale (muscle strength). Gait disorders will be evaluated by a video analysis. Disability will be evaluated by the ABILOCO scale (6) and the participation (quality of life) by the SATIS-Stroke questionnaire (7) and the SF-36 questionnaire.

The patients selection, the lidocaine hyperselective diagnostic blocks, the selective neurotomy and the tendon surgery will be achieved by the medical doctors participants to the spasticity group. The functional assessment will be achieved by the physical therapists of the PMR department (blinded assessor).

PERSPECTIVE

The investigators hope to demonstrate the benefit of neuro-orthopaedic surgery in case of SEF according to the 3 domains of the ICF (8)

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* central neurological disease lasting from more than 6 months
* spastic equinovarus foot due to spasticity and/or contracture
* patient able to walk barefoot
* insufficient benefit from physical therapy and/or orthosis

Exclusion Criteria:

* pregnant women
* botulinum toxin injection in the last 4 months
* previous surgery for SEF

Primary outcomes:
measure: Stroke impairment assessment scale, Ashworth scale, MRC scale, gait speed, Abiloco, SF36 and SATIS-stroke
timeFrame: Before treatment (T0)
measure: Stroke impairment assessment scale, Ashworth scale, MRC scale, gait speed, Abiloco, SF36 and SATIS-stroke
timeFrame: 2 months after surgery (T1)
measure: Stroke impairment assessment scale, Ashworth scale, MRC scale, gait speed, Abiloco, SF36 and SATIS-stroke
timeFrame: 1 year after surgery (T2)
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Yvoir
country: Belgium
facility: University Hospital of Mont-Godinne
Study officials:
affiliation: University Hospital of Mont-Godinne, Université Catholique de Louvain
name: Thierry M Deltombe, M.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Jorgensen HS, Nakayama H, Raaschou HO, Olsen TS. Recovery of walking function in stroke patients: the Copenhagen Stroke Study. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1995 Jan;76(1):27-32. doi: 10.1016/s0003-9993(95)80038-7.
citation: Verdie C, Daviet JC, Borie MJ, Popielarz S, Munoz M, Salle JY, Rebeyrotte I, Dudognon P. [Epidemiology of pes varus and/or equinus one year after a first cerebral hemisphere stroke: apropos of a cohort of 86 patients]. Ann Readapt Med Phys. 2004 Mar;47(2):81-6. doi: 10.1016/j.annrmp.2003.10.005. French.
citation: Deltombe T, Gustin T. Selective tibial neurotomy in the treatment of spastic equinovarus foot in hemiplegic patients: a 2-year longitudinal follow-up of 30 cases. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2010 Jul;91(7):1025-30. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2010.04.010.
citation: Deltombe T, De Wispelaere JF, Gustin T, Jamart J, Hanson P. Selective blocks of the motor nerve branches to the soleus and tibialis posterior muscles in the management of the spastic equinovarus foot. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2004 Jan;85(1):54-8. doi: 10.1016/s0003-9993(03)00405-2.
citation: Caty GD, Arnould C, Stoquart GG, Thonnard JL, Lejeune TM. ABILOCO: a Rasch-built 13-item questionnaire to assess locomotion ability in stroke patients. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2008 Feb;89(2):284-90. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2007.08.155.
citation: Bouffioulx E, Arnould C, Thonnard JL. SATIS-Stroke: A satisfaction measure of activities and participation in the actual environment experienced by patients with chronic stroke. J Rehabil Med. 2008 Nov;40(10):836-43. doi: 10.2340/16501977-0272.
citation: Stucki G. International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF): a promising framework and classification for rehabilitation medicine. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2005 Oct;84(10):733-40. doi: 10.1097/01.phm.0000179521.70639.83. No abstract available.