A Prospective Cohort Study of the Effects of Lower Extremity Orthopaedic Surgery on Outcome Measures in Ambulatory Children With Cerebral Palsy

Background: Lower-extremity musculotendinous surgery is standard treatment for ambulatory children with deformities such as joint contractures and bony torsions resulting from cerebral palsy (CP). However, evidence of efficacy is limited to retrospective, uncontrolled studies with small sample sizes focusing on gait variables and clinical examination measures. The aim of this study was to prospectively examine whether lower-extremity musculotendinous surgery in ambulatory chil-dren with CP improves impairments and function measured by gait and clinical outcome tools beyond changes found in a concurrent matched control group. Methods: Seventy-five children with spastic CP (Gross Motor Function Classification System levels I to III, age 4 to 18 y) that underwent surgery to improve gait were individually matched o