Abstract
Background:
Equinus foot deformity constitutes a common gait disorder in ambulatory adults with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy (BSCP). The outcome after intramuscular aponeurotic lengthening in the context of single-event multilevel surgery (SEMLS) in adulthood has not been investigated.
Methods:
We followed a group of 31 ambulatory adults with BSCP and equinus who underwent SEMLS including gastrocnemius-soleus intramuscular aponeurotic recession or Achilles tendon lengthening. All patients were analyzed preoperatively and at least 1 year (mean follow-up period: 1.6 years) postoperatively by clinical examination and 3-dimensional instrumented gait analysis including the Gait Profile Score (GPS).
Results:
Clinical examination showed no significant improvement of ankle dorsiflexion (P = .5) and an unchanged plantarflexion (P = .7) with knee extended but a significant postoperative reduction of spasticity in the calf muscle (P = .0001) as measured by clinical examination following the modified Ashworth scale. Significant improvement of mean ankle dorsiflexion in stance and swing (P = .0001) was found. The GPS decreased and improved significantly (15.9 ± 4.6 to 11.4 ± 3.1; P = .0001). Persistence of equinus and calcaneal gait indicating under- and overcorrection at follow-up was found in 1 patient (3%), respectively.
Conclusion:
Intramuscular gastrocnemius-soleus aponeurotic recession is part of multilevel surgery corrected equinus deformity in adults. The increase in muscle length led to significant improvement of kinetic and kinematic parameters during walking without a loss of muscle strength and push-off capacity. The risk of overcorrection after equinus correction in adults with BSCP was found to be relatively low.
Level of Evidence:
Level IV, retrospective case series.
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