Early Mobilization After Achilles Tendon Rupture

NCT ID: NCT02318472

Last Updated: 2024-03-06

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

150 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2013-11-30

Study Completion Date

2024-12-31

Brief Summary

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The purpose of this study is to determine whether early mobilization after Achilles tendon rupture can speed up healing, prevent development of venous thromboembolism and improve patient outcome.

Detailed Description

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Patients with acute Achilles tendon rupture will be screened for eligibility at the Karolinska University Hospital and Södersjukhuset, Stockholm.

One hundred-fifty patients will be included and enrolled and assigned to the interventions either by a third party nurse or by a research nurse. Randomisation will be performed with use of computer-generated random numbers in permuted blocks of four, through an independent software specialist, and consecutively numbered, sealed, opaque envelopes opened after surgery and prior to treatment.

The patients will be randomized to undergo either treatment as usual using plaster cast treatment alone or direct post-operative functional mobilization with a weight-bearing orthosis with adjustable range of motion of the ankle.

The power calculation was based upon data from a recent study reporting a 50% rate of CDU-verified DVT after ATR surgery (Domeij-Arverud et a. 2015). We estimated early functional mobilization (EFM) to confer a 50% risk reduction. Sixty-three patients in each group were required to detect a difference of 25% in the incidence of DVT (two-sided type-I error rate = 5%; power = 80%). We decided to include 150 patients to counteract drop-outs. On recommendations from the ethical committee, a ratio of 2:1 was chosen, since our hypothesis was that the EFM group would perform better.

The endpoint of the first part of the study is tendon healing quantified at 2 weeks by microdialysis followed by quantification of markers for tendon repair. The sample size for the outcome in the microdialysis study was calculated on a difference of the glutamate metabolite of 12 µM between the two groups. For this power analysis, we used a glutamate standard difference of 15 µM resulting from a previous study. It was determined that a sample size of 25 patients per group would be necessary to detect the glutamate difference with 80% power when alpha was set equal to 5%. Anticipating that we would lose 10% of participants enrolled, we plan to enroll 27 patients in each group for microdialysis.

The primary aim of the short-term follow up of this randomized, controlled trial was to assess the efficacy of EFM to reduce the DVT incidence after ATR surgery, at two and six weeks post-operatively, compared to treatment-as-usual, i.e. two weeks of plaster cast followed by four weeks' orthosis immobilization. The secondary aim was to evaluate the effect of patient intrinsic factors (age, BMI, calf circumference, ankle range of motion, pain and fear of movement) and patient extrinsic factors (amount of weightbearing, number of daily steps) on the risk of sustaining a DVT.

The primary aim with the long-term follow up is to investigate the effect of early postoperative functional mobilization compared to immobilization on patient-reported function, health, fear of movement, physical activity level, and differences in functional capacity. The second aim is to explore if the occurrence of DVT postoperatively effects functional outcome in the long-term after surgical treatment of ATR.

Additional aims:

The primary aim of the second part of this study was to assess the number of steps and the amount of loading in a weight bearing orthosis during the first six weeks post-surgical ATR repair. A secondary purpose was to investigate if the amount of loading was correlated to fear of movement or/and pain.

The aim with this substudy is to describe differences between the two groups over time regarding tendon elongation, differences in muscle cross-sectional area and differences in tendon cross-sectional area (on the injured side) and to examine if the differences can predict functional outcome in the long-term and if any of the follow-up occasions are most important for long-term functional outcome.

Few studies have evaluated outcome more than one year after injury. The aim of this substudy is to investigate differences in outcome at 3 years after injury between the patients that sustained a DVT and those who did not sustain a DVT. Another aim is to compare the two intervention groups over 3-years time.

Conditions

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Achilles Tendon Rupture Deep Venous Thrombosis

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Investigators Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Early mobilization

Functional mobilization initiated directly post-operative with a weight-bearing VACOped orthosis with adjustable range of motion of the ankle

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

VACOped orthosis

Intervention Type DEVICE

Weight-bearing orthosis with adjustable range of motion of the ankle

Immobilization

Treatment as usual using plaster cast immobilization

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Plaster cast

Intervention Type DEVICE

Lower limb plaster cast

Interventions

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VACOped orthosis

Weight-bearing orthosis with adjustable range of motion of the ankle

Intervention Type DEVICE

Plaster cast

Lower limb plaster cast

Intervention Type DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Acute unilateral ATR, operated on within 96 hours
* Age between 18 and 75 years

Exclusion Criteria

* Inability to give informed consent
* Current anticoagulation treatment (including high dose acetylsalicylic acid)
* Planned follow-up at other hospital
* Inability to follow instructions
* Known kidney failure
* Heart failure with pitting oedema
* Thrombophlebitis
* Thromboembolic event during the previous three months
* Other surgery during the previous month
* Known malignancy
* Haemophilia; and pregnancy
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

75 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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OPED GmbH

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role collaborator

Karolinska University Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Paul Ackermann

Associate Professor, MD, PhD

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Paul W Ackermann, MD, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Karolinska University Hospital

Locations

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Karolinska university Hospital

Stockholm, , Sweden

Site Status

Countries

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Sweden

References

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Saarensilta A, Aufwerber S, Gravare Silbernagel K, Ackermann P. Early Tendon Morphology as a Biomarker of Long-term Patient Outcomes After Surgical Repair of Achilles Tendon Rupture: A Prospective Cohort Study. Orthop J Sports Med. 2023 Nov 6;11(11):23259671231205326. doi: 10.1177/23259671231205326. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 37941888 (View on PubMed)

Chen J, Wang J, Hart DA, Zhou Z, Ackermann PW, Ahmed AS. Complement factor D regulates collagen type I expression and fibroblast migration to enhance human tendon repair and healing outcomes. Front Immunol. 2023 Sep 6;14:1225957. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1225957. eCollection 2023.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 37744351 (View on PubMed)

Wu X, Chen J, Sun W, Hart DA, Ackermann PW, Ahmed AS. Network proteomic analysis identifies inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain 4 during early human Achilles tendon healing as a prognostic biomarker of good long-term outcomes. Front Immunol. 2023 Jul 6;14:1191536. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1191536. eCollection 2023.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 37483617 (View on PubMed)

Aufwerber S, Silbernagel KG, Ackermann PW, Naili JE. Comparable Recovery and Compensatory Strategies in Heel-Rise Performance After a Surgically Repaired Acute Achilles Tendon Rupture: An In Vivo Kinematic Analysis Comparing Early Functional Mobilization and Standard Treatment. Am J Sports Med. 2022 Dec;50(14):3856-3865. doi: 10.1177/03635465221129284. Epub 2022 Nov 2.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 36322396 (View on PubMed)

Chen J, Wang J, Hart DA, Ahmed AS, Ackermann PW. Complement factor D as a predictor of Achilles tendon healing and long-term patient outcomes. FASEB J. 2022 Jun;36(6):e22365. doi: 10.1096/fj.202200200RR.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 35596679 (View on PubMed)

Aufwerber S, Edman G, Gravare Silbernagel K, Ackermann PW. Changes in Tendon Elongation and Muscle Atrophy Over Time After Achilles Tendon Rupture Repair: A Prospective Cohort Study on the Effects of Early Functional Mobilization. Am J Sports Med. 2020 Nov;48(13):3296-3305. doi: 10.1177/0363546520956677. Epub 2020 Sep 28.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 32986466 (View on PubMed)

Aufwerber S, Heijne A, Edman G, Silbernagel KG, Ackermann PW. Does Early Functional Mobilization Affect Long-Term Outcomes After an Achilles Tendon Rupture? A Randomized Clinical Trial. Orthop J Sports Med. 2020 Mar 16;8(3):2325967120906522. doi: 10.1177/2325967120906522. eCollection 2020 Mar.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 32206673 (View on PubMed)

Aufwerber S, Heijne A, Gravare Silbernagel K, Ackermann PW. High Plantar Force Loading After Achilles Tendon Rupture Repair With Early Functional Mobilization. Am J Sports Med. 2019 Mar;47(4):894-900. doi: 10.1177/0363546518824326. Epub 2019 Feb 11.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 30742483 (View on PubMed)

Alim MA, Svedman S, Edman G, Ackermann PW. Procollagen markers in microdialysate can predict patient outcome after Achilles tendon rupture. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2016 Jun 10;2(1):e000114. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2016-000114. eCollection 2016.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 27900179 (View on PubMed)

Provided Documents

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Document Type: Study Protocol

View Document

Other Identifiers

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VR2012-2510

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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