Efficacy of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy in Children With Cerebral Palsy

Summary

Spastic plantar and palmar flexion deformities are very common in children with cerebral palsy (CP). These deformities usually involve spasticity of the plantar or palmar muscle complexes, weakness of the antagonist dorsiflexor muscles of the ankle or wrist, and also involve soft tissue/muscle contractures and require a multimodal treatment approach. Physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), serial casting (SC), and botulinum toxin A (BoNT-A) injections had shown positive results in both of these deformities. Recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses showed that extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is effective in reducing spasticity, pain intensity, and increasing range of motion and motor function when combined with PT or BoNT-A injections in neurological conditions like stroke, CP, multiple sclerosis. ESWT can be a complimentary therapy to obtain an earlier efficacy, better efficacy, a sustained effect for a longer period, and less adverse events. The objective of this study was to show the effects of ESWT when combined with intermittent SC, BoNT-A injections and PT or OT on spasticity, passive range of motion (pROM) of children with CP having spastic equinus foot deformity or wrist palmar flexion deformity.

Timeline

Start

2023-11

Primary completion

2024-06

Completion

2024-09

Publications

• Results Carranza-Del Rio J, Dursun N, Cekmece C, Bonikowski M, Pyrzanowska W, Dabrowski E, Tilton A, Oleszek J, Volteau M, Page S, Shierk A, Delgado MR. Goal Attainment after Treatment with Abobotulinumtoxina and a Tailored Home Therapy Programme in Children with Upper Limb Spasticity: Descriptive, Exploratory Analysis of a Large Randomized, Controlled Study. J Rehabil Med. 2022 Dec 9;54:jrm00349. doi: 10.2340/jrm.v54.2540.
• Results Dursun N, Gokbel T, Akarsu M, Bonikowski M, Pyrzanowska W, Dursun E. Intermittent serial casting for wrist flexion deformity in children with spastic cerebral palsy: a randomized controlled trial. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2021 Jun;63(6):743-747. doi: 10.1111/dmcn.14765. Epub 2021 Jan 22.
• Results Delgado MR, Tilton A, Carranza-Del Rio J, Dursun N, Bonikowski M, Aydin R, Maciag-Tymecka I, Oleszek J, Dabrowski E, Grandoulier AS, Picaut P; Dysport in PUL study group. Efficacy and safety of abobotulinumtoxinA for upper limb spasticity in children with cerebral palsy: a randomized repeat-treatment study. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2021 May;63(5):592-600. doi: 10.1111/dmcn.14733. Epub 2020 Nov 18.
• Results Dursun N, Gokbel T, Akarsu M, Dursun E. Randomized Controlled Trial on Effectiveness of Intermittent Serial Casting on Spastic Equinus Foot in Children with Cerebral Palsy After Botulinum Toxin-A Treatment. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2017 Apr;96(4):221-225. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000000627.
• Results Delgado MR, Tilton A, Russman B, Benavides O, Bonikowski M, Carranza J, Dabrowski E, Dursun N, Gormley M, Jozwiak M, Matthews D, Maciag-Tymecka I, Unlu E, Pham E, Tse A, Picaut P. AbobotulinumtoxinA for Equinus Foot Deformity in Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Pediatrics. 2016 Feb;137(2):e20152830. doi: 10.1542/peds.2015-2830. Epub 2016 Jan 26.
• Results Dursun N, Bonikowski M, Dabrowski E, Matthews D, Gormley M, Tilton A, Carranza J, Grandoulier AS, Picaut P, Delgado MR. Efficacy of Repeat AbobotulinumtoxinA (Dysport(R)) Injections in Improving Gait in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy. Dev Neurorehabil. 2020 Aug;23(6):368-374. doi: 10.1080/17518423.2019.1687602. Epub 2019 Nov 6.
• Results Chang MC, Choo YJ, Kwak SG, Nam K, Kim SY, Lee HJ, Kwak S. Effectiveness of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy on Controlling Spasticity in Cerebral Palsy Patients: A Meta-Analysis of Timing of Outcome Measurement. Children (Basel). 2023 Feb 9;10(2):332. doi: 10.3390/children10020332.
• Results Mihai EE, Popescu MN, Iliescu AN, Berteanu M. A systematic review on extracorporeal shock wave therapy and botulinum toxin for spasticity treatment: a comparison on efficacy. Eur J Phys Rehabil Med. 2022 Aug;58(4):565-574. doi: 10.23736/S1973-9087.22.07136-2. Epub 2022 Apr 12.
• Results Kwon DR, Kwon DG. Botulinum Toxin a Injection Combined with Radial Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy: Shear Wave Sonoelastographic Findings in the Medial Gastrocnemius Muscle, Preliminary Study. Children (Basel). 2021 Nov 17;8(11):1059. doi: 10.3390/children8111059.

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