Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing the Effectiveness of Two Post-fasciectomy Rehabilitation Protocols Differing in Intensity and Implementation of Modalities 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 towards 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). The independent variable of this study is the intensity of the rehabilitation protocol (BRIEF or INTENSE). The primary dependent variable is the functional abilities to perform activities of daily living. The secondary dependent variables are the following : digits range of motion, pain, grip and pinch strengths, as well as tactile sensibility.

The BRIEF PROTOCOL consists of 4 intervention sessions with an occupational therapist specialized in hand therapy that will occur at 0-3 days, 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 8 weeks post-fasciectomy. The occupational therapist will give recommendations about the management of swelling, wound care and functional recovery. An home exercises program will be given to the participant. Finally, an extension splint that must be worn at night until the third month after surgery will be made at the first session. The INTENSE PROTOCOL consists of 6 intervention sessions with an occupational therapist specialized in hand therapy that will occur at 0-3 days, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks and 8 weeks after surgery. The occupational therapist will give recommendations about the management of swelling, wound care and functional recovery. An home exercises program will be given to the participant. An extension splint that must be worn at night until the third month after surgery will be made at the first session. Also, exercises will be performed by the patient under the supervision of the occupational therapist (supervised exercises) in each session except the first one at 0-3 days after surgery.

Statistical analyses will take into account the moderate size of our sample (n=40) and the independence of the two groups. Descriptive statistics and Shapiro-Wilk test will be used to evaluate if variables follow the normal distribution. If the normal distribution is confirmed, repeated measure ANOVA will be used to compare the 2 groups. If not, Mann-Whitney test will be used (non-parametric test). Pearson correlation coefficient (parametric) or Spearman correlation coefficient (non-parametric) will be used to analyze the relationships between variables (secondary aim of the study).