1. English version
1.1. Introduction
The prevalence of cerebral palsy (CP) ranges between
1.7 and 2.5 per 1000 live births in European and North
American countries [1]. This chronic pathology leads to
frequent motor disabilities, especially severe gait impairments.
Initially, the child presents with a normal musculoskeletal
system and non-progressive but irreversible brain damage. The
consequences of this brain damage, called ‘‘primary
impairments’’, consist of several symptoms, such as loss of
muscle tone, motor control and balance disorders, as well as
spasticity (in most types of CP). Later on, muscle and tendon
contractions and impairments of the musculoskeletal system
appear. ‘‘Secondary impairments’’ are caused by abnormal
mechanical stimulations imposed on a growing musculoske-
letal system [2,3]. Children try to walk in spite of their primary
and/or secondary structural and dynamic impairments. The
prevention and treatment of these impairments are based on
physical therapy, medical treatment, orthotics, injections of
botulinum toxin and surgery.
Surgical management for CP, including tendon lengthening
and/or transfers, derotational osteotomy or joint stabilization,
has always had a functional improvement objective. For a long
time, it has been performed in a limited and successive manner
in fear of doing too many surgical procedures that would yield
to irreversible consequences [4].
Recently, single-level surgery has been replaced by the
concept of multilevel surgery consisting of two teams operating
simultaneously on both of the patient’s lower limbs during one
single surgical procedure; thus, requiring only one hospitaliza-
tion and one post-surgical rehabilitation stay.
The effectiveness of multilevel surgery has been validated in
several studies, which have underlined the reduced number and
total duration of hospitalizations during childhood, improve-
ment in gait parameters, joint range of movement, decreased
energy cost when walking, as well as improvement in
functional abilities evaluated via the Gross Motor Function
Measure (GMFM) [5–12].
Numerous studies lately have been focusing on assessing the
functional results of this surgery, however, very few studies
have evaluated the quality of life and satisfaction after this type
of surgery. One should underline that the opinion of children is
rarely studied in today’s literature.
The main objective of this study was to evaluate the
correlation between the perception of parents and experience of
children regarding quality of life and satisfaction with
multilevel surgical outcomes. The secondary objective was
to describe the perception of children regarding the evolution of
their general state and most specifically gait abilities.
1.2. Material and methods
1.2.1. Study design
Descriptive, observational, single-center study conducted in
a Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R)
center of reference. Recruited subjects were ambulatory
children with cerebral palsy who had multilevel surgery. The
evaluation was done based on self-assessment questionnaire
and semi-directed interviews. This study was approved by the
local Ethics committee and all parents signed an informed
consent form before study inclusion.
1.2.2. Characteristics of the studied population
The following inclusion criteria for the study were:
children diagnosed with cerebral palsy and ambulatory
capacities [Gross Motor Function Classification Scale
(GMFCS) I to III];
children aged < 18 years old at the time of surgery;
children who had multilevel surgery in the Lorraine regional
university hospital center between 2009 and 2011. To be
defined as multilevel surgery, the procedure had to include in
a single surgical procedure at least two muscle–tendon
(lengthening or transfer) or bone surgical gestures on one or
two limbs;
children who spent their post-surgical rehabilitation in the
regional reference PM&R center of Lorraine, France.
Exclusion criteria were children with mild intellectual
disability (intelligence quotient below 70), as well as children
and/or parents who refused to participate to the study.