Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research ›› 2022, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (8): 1299-1304.doi: 10.12307/2022.239

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Ankle-foot orthoses improve motor function of children with cerebral palsy: a Meta-analysis based on 12 randomized controlled trials

Liu Gang, Ma Chao, Wang Le, Zeng Jie, Jiao Yong, Zhao Yi, Ren Jingpei, Hu Chuanyu, Xu Lin, Mu Xiaohong   

  1. Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100700, China
  • Received:2020-11-19 Revised:2020-11-21 Accepted:2020-12-31 Online:2022-03-18 Published:2021-11-02
  • Contact: Mu Xiaohong, MD, Professor, Chief physician, Doctoral supervisor, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100700, China
  • About author:Liu Gang, Master candidate, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100700, China

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Cerebral palsy seriously affects children's physical and mental health due to its high morbidity and disability rate. Ankle-foot orthoses are an important treatment for this disease. However, it is not very clear about the clinical effect of ankle-foot orthoses on the motor function of children with cerebral palsy. Therefore, this paper systematically assesses the clinical effect of ankle-foot orthoses on the improvement of motor function in children with cerebral palsy.
METHODS: Literature retrieval was carried out in the electronic databases of PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, WanFang, and VIP. The time limit for retrieval was from the establishment of these databases to September 9, 2020. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, randomized controlled trials of ankle-foot orthoses in the treatment of children with cerebral palsy were included. At least two evaluators extracted the data independently and used Cochrane 5.1.0 bias risk assessment tool to evaluate the quality of included studies. The data were analyzed by Revman 5.3 software.
RESULTS: In the end, a total of 12 randomized controlled trials with high quality, involving 480 children with cerebral palsy, were included in this study. Among them, 239 patients in the ankle-foot orthosis group wore ankle-foot orthosis; 241 patients in the control group did not wear ankle-foot orthosis. The treatment course was 0-48 weeks. Meta-analysis results showed that the improvement of Gross Motor Function Measure-88-D/E score (mean difference (MD)=6.26, 95% confidence interval (CI):3.54-8.98, P < 0.000 01), modified Ashworth scale score (MD=-0.60, 95%CI: -0.80 to -0.40, P < 0.000 01), dorsiflexion mean in swing (MD=14.96, 95%CI: 12.03-17.90, P < 0.000 01), effectiveness in improving motor function (MD=2.99, 95%CI: 1.19-7.50, P=0.02), and stride length (MD=0.06, 95%CI: 0.04-0.09, P < 0.000 01) in the ankle-foot orthosis group was better than that in the control group. 
CONCLUSION: Evidence from these 12 randomized controlled trials indicates that no matter walking with ankle-foot orthosis, or walking without ankle-foot orthosis after wearing for a certain period of time, in the short time, it has remarkable clinical value in improving motor function. However, further studies on the long-term recovery of motor function are required.

Key words: cerebral palsy, ankle-foot orthoses, gross motor function, dorsiflexion of ankle, gait analysis, randomized controlled trial, Meta-analysis

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