Dupuytren Contracture clinical trials

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

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.