Comparing the Effectiveness of Two Post-fasciectomy Rehabilitation Protocols in Patients With Dupuytren's Disease

Summary

Dupuytren's disease can cause physical impairments that lead to reduced functional performance in personal care, work-related and leisure activities. The prevalence of Dupuytren's disease increases with age. A meta-analysis completed in 2014 by Lanting and al. estimated the its prevalence in western countries at 12% among people aged 55 years and over and at 29% among individuals aged 75 and over. The fasciectomy is the most current surgical procedure to reduce the flexion contracture occurring in this disease. Studies confirm the relevance of post-operative rehabilitation after fasciectomy. This rehabilitation is usually conducted by hand therapists who are mostly occupational therapists. However, the required duration and frequency of interventions and exercises for the post-op rehabilitation are not clearly described in the literature. In fact, the guidelines that are currently available recommend a total duration between 16 and 75 hours, which is highly variable. Also, the need to include supervised exercises by the occupational therapist is not specified. The main goal of this study is to compare two post-fasciectomy rehabilitation protocols to determine the influence of protocols intensity on motor and functional outcomes in people with Dupuytren's disease. The hypothesis is that the protocol involving a higher intensity will lead to better motor and functional improvements. The secondary goal of this study is to explore the link between the total time that the person has done the recommended exercises (combination of supervised exercises and the home program) and motor/functional recovery. The hypothesis is that the relationship between the amount of time and the motor/functional improvements will not be linear, but will either be logarithmic toward a plateau of recovery.

A randomized controlled trial will be realized. 40 participants will be randomly assigned to one of the two rehabilitation protocols. Each participant will be evaluated at four times (initial evaluation, final evaluation and 2 follow-up evaluations). Data on motor and functional recovery will be collected.

Conditions

• Dupuytren Contracture

Interventions

OTHER

Brief protocol

This protocol consists of 4 intervention sessions with an occupational therapist specialized in hand therapy that will occur at 0-3 days, 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 8 weeks post-fasciectomy. The occupational therapist will give recommendations about the management of swelling, wound care and functional recovery. An home exercises program will be given to the participant. The occupational therapist will make an extension splint that should be worn at night for the 3 months following surgery.

OTHER

Intense protocol

This protocol consists of 6 intervention sessions with an occupational therapist specialized in hand therapy that will occur at 0-3 days, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks and 8 weeks after surgery. The occupational therapist will give recommendations about the management of swelling, wound care and functional recovery. An home exercises program will be given to the participant. The occupational therapist will make an extension splint that should be worn at night for the 3 months following surgery. Also, exercises will be performed by the patient under the supervision of the occupational therapist (supervised exercises) in each session except the first one at 0-3 days after surgery.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• CHU de Quebec-Universite Laval

  collaborator OTHER

• Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Réadaptation et Intégration Sociale

  collaborator OTHER

• Véronique Flamand

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Veronique Flamand, PhD · Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

55 Years

Max Age

75 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-06-30

Primary Completion

2020-12-31

Completion

2020-12-31

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations