Functional surgery can correct equino-varus foot deformity in hemiplegic patients following a stroke by restoring the length of plantiflexors muscles. But what happens if the ankle is then immobilized in a plaster cast for a long time? The surgical wound will heal properly, but the soft tissue morphology will unavoidably be compromised, losing part of the advantage resulting from the surgery.
Therefore, we conducted a study proposing personalised surgery to patients, after assessing them by instrumental Gait Analysis, and then analysing the effects of early intensive rehabilitation with an AFO orthosis, which allowed weight-bearing the day after the surgery.
The results are promising in terms of safety and efficacy from the first month, with significant changes in gait parameters from the third month onwards. Finally, the functional improvements allow greater patient’s social participation, according to the ICF model.
The several phases of the study can be examined at the following links:
Retrospective cohort study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26629841/
Prospective study, long-term results on gait parameters: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30156087/
Prospective study, long-term results on ICF model: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31311449/
