Cerebral Palsy Patients More Satisfied with Motor Function After Hip Joint Surgery and Rehab, Study Says

The frequency of postoperative rehabilitation sessions and history of hip-joint surgery in patients with cerebral palsy (CP) correlate with patient satisfaction regarding improvements in physical function following orthopedic surgery, according to the study “Factors Contributing to Satisfaction with Changes in Physical Function after Orthopedic Surgery for Muscoskeletal Dysfunction in Patients with Cerebral Palsy,” published in the journal PLOS One.

For CP patients, orthopedic surgeries are common and aim to improve the individual’s motor function and deformity, and help to relieve pain. After surgery, patients require continuous intervention and services that help facilitate the postoperative rehabilitation. In Japan, however, there is a lack of information regarding the required medical treatment for CP patients, including orthopedic surgery, and procedures differ from region to region.

The research team, led by Tadamitsu Matsuda, hoped to identify factors that were correlated with patients’ satisfaction regarding their changes in physical function after orthopedic surgery. A total of 358 patients with CP who underwent surgery at an orthopedic hospital in Tokyo from April 2005 to December 2009 responded to a questionnaire where the researchers assessed, among other parameters, the total number of procedures, operated sites, satisfaction of postoperative rehabilitation frequency, and current satisfaction with the changes in physical function after the surgery.

Investigators found that 253 patients in the cohort were satisfied with their improvements in physical function, whereas 105 participants were dissatisfied. The results showed that the satisfied group had a significantly lower age at the time of their first surgery, were more likely to have been subjected to hip-joint surgery, and were more satisfied with the frequency of postoperative rehabilitation sessions.

The parameters found to be more closely associated with patient satisfaction were then selected for a multivariate analysis. Age at the time of first surgery, satisfaction with the frequency of postoperative rehabilitation sessions, and the surgical sites of neck, hip, knee-joint and ankle, were the six variables included in the multivariate logistic regression analysis.

Interestingly, the same results were obtained for frequency of postoperative rehabilitation sessions and history of hip surgery, but not for age, suggesting that patients with a higher frequency of postoperative rehabilitation sessions or patients who underwent hip-joint surgery were more satisfied with the post surgery changes in physical function.

“This study demonstrated that the frequency of postoperative rehabilitation and history of hip surgery seemed to be related to the satisfaction with the changes in physical function after orthopedic surgery,” concluded the research team in their article.