Novel Dynamic Foot Abduction Bar for Treatment of Clubfoot

NCT ID: NCT05293743

Last Updated: 2025-05-22

Study Results

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Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

17 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2022-08-17

Study Completion Date

2023-05-24

Brief Summary

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The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate a new Dynamic Bar for foot abduction bracing for clubfoot treatment. The main questions that this study aims to answer are:

* How easy is it to recruit and retain participants for a randomized-controlled effectiveness trial of a novel foot abduction bar?
* How does parental perception of child comfort in the Dynamic Bar compare to parental perception of child comfort in standard bars?
* How does patient tolerance of the Dynamic Bar compare patient tolerance of standard bars?
* How effective is the Dynamic Bar at preventing clubfoot recurrence during the bracing phase when the brace is worn as prescribed for a 30-day trial period?

Each participant will be randomized into one of two arms: the experimental arm or the control arm. For the first 30 days, the experimental arm will wear the new Dynamic Bar with standard boots and the control arm will continue wearing their standard bar. After this 30-day period, the experimental arm will return to wearing their standard bar.

Detailed Description

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This is an assessor-blinded randomized feasibility trial assessing the feasibility of conducting a large-scale clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a new dynamic bar for foot abduction bracing for clubfoot treatment. Feasibility will be determined by the ability to recruit patients within the goal study period and to retain participants. Eligible patients must have a well-corrected idiopathic clubfoot (Pirani Score ≤ 0.5) and be in the minimum 12 hours per day bracing stage of the Ponseti clubfoot treatment protocol. The overall study period will be 90 days in length. For the first 30 days, the experimental cohort will wear the new Dynamic Bar (DB) with standard ankle-foot orthoses (boots) and the control cohort will continue wearing their Standard Bar (SB). After this 30-day period, the experimental cohort will return to wearing their SB.

All patients will be evaluated on Day 0, Day 7, Day 30, and Day 90 of the study period to monitor for recurrence of the clubfoot deformity, complications of brace wearing, to submit brace wear logs, and to complete parent-reported questionnaires regarding their perceptions of the Foot Abduction Brace (FAB) and their child's comfort. A minimum of 10 patients per arm will be recruited. A temperature sensor will be added in each participant's boots during the 90-day study period to objectively measure time of brace wear. It is hypothesized that when patients are wearing the DB, they will experience higher brace tolerance defined as increased wear time of the brace as measured by the temperature sensors, and higher comfort levels as reported by parents, without an increase in clubfoot deformity recurrence compared to the SB.

Most patient information that will be reviewed in this study is data being collected and stored per the REB-approved Clubfoot Research Registry protocol (REB #1000053919). All patients enrolled in study this will also be enrolled in Clubfoot Research Registry, if not already enrolled.

The novel DB is designed by the research team and allows independent movement of the knees and hips while maintaining a corrective position of the foot.

Conditions

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Clubfoot

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Experimental arm with new device, control arm with standard device.
Primary Study Purpose

DEVICE_FEASIBILITY

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors
The clinician assessing foot shape for recurrence will be blinded to the brace type. Clinicians involved in fitting the brace will not be.

Study Groups

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Standard Bar

This group will continue using the Standard Bar as part of their brace, per their current treatment.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Foot abduction bracing for clubfoot with Standard Bar

Intervention Type DEVICE

After Ponseti treatment of serial casting and tenotomy for clubfoot, patients are braced full time x 3 months then night time until age 5. This study compares standard bars in a foot abduction brace to our novel Dynamic Bar. This group uses the Standard Bar.

Dynamic Bar

This group will use the Dynamic Bar for 30 days instead of their Standard Bar.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Foot abduction bracing for clubfoot with novel Dynamic Bar

Intervention Type DEVICE

After Ponseti treatment of serial casting and tenotomy for clubfoot, patients are braced full time x 3 months then night time until age 5. This study compares standard bars in a foot abduction brace to our novel Dynamic Bar. This group uses the Dynamic Bar.

Interventions

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Foot abduction bracing for clubfoot with novel Dynamic Bar

After Ponseti treatment of serial casting and tenotomy for clubfoot, patients are braced full time x 3 months then night time until age 5. This study compares standard bars in a foot abduction brace to our novel Dynamic Bar. This group uses the Dynamic Bar.

Intervention Type DEVICE

Foot abduction bracing for clubfoot with Standard Bar

After Ponseti treatment of serial casting and tenotomy for clubfoot, patients are braced full time x 3 months then night time until age 5. This study compares standard bars in a foot abduction brace to our novel Dynamic Bar. This group uses the Standard Bar.

Intervention Type DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

1. Ability of parent/care giver to complete brace wear log/surveys in English
2. Diagnosis of idiopathic clubfoot (unilateral or bilateral).
3. Current use of a SB with their Foot Abduction Brace.
4. In the minimum 12-hour per day bracing stage of the Ponseti treatment
5. Aged 1 to 3 years (as the DB prototype was designed based on the average size and strength of a child within that age group).
6. Well-corrected clubfoot/clubfeet (Pirani score ≤ 0.5)
7. Enrollment in the SickKids Clubfoot Research Registry.

Exclusion Criteria

1. Recurrent clubfoot deformity at time of recruitment and/or Day 0 in study period: Pirani score above 0.5; Presence of cavus, adduction, or hindfoot varus; Less than 10 degrees of passive ankle dorsiflexion.
2. Current complaint of significant brace intolerance.
3. Any condition or diagnosis, that could in the opinion of the Principal Investigator or delegate interfere with the participant's ability to comply with study instructions, might confound the interpretation of the study results, or put the participant at risk, i.e., skin conditions such as eczema, neurologic conditions or any non-idiopathic clubfoot, any acute or chronic illness perceived to be causing the child discomfort such as a cold or flu or other concurrent painful procedure.
4. The patient does not adequately fit the available prototype, e.g., shoulder width distance is too narrow or wide for prototype bar width. However, these patients will be recorded in the study enrollment log to identify the size of this subset. The age and fit issues of these patients will also be recorded to allow future adaptations of the new DB to accommodate this subset.
5. The patient is using an older boot model, in which a temperature sensor cannot be inserted, and the patient does not adequately fit the available boots, in which the temperature sensors have already been installed.
Minimum Eligible Age

1 Year

Maximum Eligible Age

3 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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The Hospital for Sick Children

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Maryse Bouchard

Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Maryse Bouchard, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

The Hospital for Sick Children

Locations

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The Hospital for Sick Children

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Site Status

Countries

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Canada

References

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Anand A, Sala DA. Clubfoot: etiology and treatment. Indian J Orthop. 2008 Jan;42(1):22-8. doi: 10.4103/0019-5413.38576.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19823650 (View on PubMed)

Alves C. Bracing in clubfoot: do we know enough? J Child Orthop. 2019 Jun 1;13(3):258-264. doi: 10.1302/1863-2548.13.190069.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31312265 (View on PubMed)

Hospital for Special Surgery [Internet]. New York: HSS. Method for Correcting Clubfoot: Overview for Parent; 2019 Sept 12 [cited 2021 Jan 11] Available from: https://www.hss.edu/conditions_thse-ponseti-method-for-clubfoot-correction.asp.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Garg S, Porter K. Improved bracing compliance in children with clubfeet using a dynamic orthosis. J Child Orthop. 2009 Aug;3(4):271-6. doi: 10.1007/s11832-009-0182-9. Epub 2009 Jun 3.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19495824 (View on PubMed)

SickKids Internal Document. CLUBFOOT FAO BAR OPTIONS June 2017 edited. 2017 June.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Azarpira MR, Emami MJ, Vosoughi AR, Rahbari K. Factors associated with recurrence of clubfoot treated by the Ponseti method. World J Clin Cases. 2016 Oct 16;4(10):318-322. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v4.i10.318.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27803913 (View on PubMed)

Zhao D, Liu J, Zhao L, Wu Z. Relapse of clubfoot after treatment with the Ponseti method and the function of the foot abduction orthosis. Clin Orthop Surg. 2014 Sep;6(3):245-52. doi: 10.4055/cios.2014.6.3.245. Epub 2014 Aug 5.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25177447 (View on PubMed)

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons [Internet]. Illinois: AAOS. Study Finds Ponseti Method Remains an Effective Treatment for Clubfoot, Bracing Is Paramount; 2021 Jan 18 [cited 2021 May 25] Available from: https://www.aaos.org/aaosnow/2020/aaos-now-special-edition/research/662_pediatrics.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Gelfer Y, Wientroub S, Hughes K, Fontalis A, Eastwood DM. Congenital talipes equinovarus: a systematic review of relapse as a primary outcome of the Ponseti method. Bone Joint J. 2019 Jun;101-B(6):639-645. doi: 10.1302/0301-620X.101B6.BJJ-2018-1421.R1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31154846 (View on PubMed)

Morgenstein A, Davis R, Talwalkar V, Iwinski H Jr, Walker J, Milbrandt TA. A randomized clinical trial comparing reported and measured wear rates in clubfoot bracing using a novel pressure sensor. J Pediatr Orthop. 2015 Mar;35(2):185-91. doi: 10.1097/BPO.0000000000000205.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 24787312 (View on PubMed)

Aroojis A, Pandey T, Dusa A, Krishnan AG, Ghyar R, Ravi B. Development of a functional prototype of a SMART (Sensor-integrated for Monitoring And Remote Tracking) foot abduction brace for clubfoot treatment: a pre-clinical evaluation. Int Orthop. 2021 Sep;45(9):2401-2410. doi: 10.1007/s00264-021-05042-0. Epub 2021 Apr 22.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 33885922 (View on PubMed)

Sangiorgio SN, Ho NC, Morgan RD, Ebramzadeh E, Zionts LE. The Objective Measurement of Brace-Use Adherence in the Treatment of Idiopathic Clubfoot. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2016 Oct 5;98(19):1598-1605. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.16.00170.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27707845 (View on PubMed)

Masrouha KZ, Moses MJ, Sala DA, Litrenta J, Lehman WB, Chu A. The Validity of Patient-reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Parent Proxy Instruments to Assess Function in Children With Talipes Equinovarus. J Pediatr Orthop. 2019 Nov/Dec;39(10):e787-e790. doi: 10.1097/BPO.0000000000001368.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 30913133 (View on PubMed)

Varni JW, Limbers CA, Burwinkle TM. How young can children reliably and validly self-report their health-related quality of life?: an analysis of 8,591 children across age subgroups with the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2007 Jan 3;5:1. doi: 10.1186/1477-7525-5-1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 17201920 (View on PubMed)

Mitchell JR, inventor. Quick clip for a club foot device. United States patent US 20160113803A1. 2002 Jun 9.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

C-Pro Direct [Internet]. Ponseti AFO Standard Sandals with Bar; [cited 2021 May 25] Available from: https://c-prodirect.com/ponseti-afo-standard-sandals-with-bar.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

MD Orthopaedics [Internet]. Massachusetts: MD Orthopaedics. Ponseti® Bar; [cited 2021 May 25] Available from: https://mdorthopaedics.easyordershop.com/link/en/bars/ponseti/a/.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

iButtonLink Technology [Internet]. DS1922L-F5# Thermochron iButton 8K -40 to 85°C; [cited 2021 July 1] Available from: https://www.ibuttonlink.com/products/ds1922l.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Dobbs MB, Frick SL, Mosca VS, Raney E, VanBosse HJ, Lerman JA, Talwalkar VR, Steger-May K, Gurnett CA. Design and descriptive data of the randomized Clubfoot Foot Abduction Brace Length of Treatment Study (FAB24). J Pediatr Orthop B. 2017 Mar;26(2):101-107. doi: 10.1097/BPB.0000000000000387.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27632641 (View on PubMed)

Tamarack Habilitation Technologies, Inc. [Internet] ShearBan® Self-Adhesive, Low-Friction Sheets for Foot Blister and Ulcer Care; [cited 2021 August 2] Available from: https://tamarackhti.com/resources/shearban

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Youtube [Internet]. Installing I-Button in Ponseti AFO; [cited 2021 July 1] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YACSbFn-lOA.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Sadler B, Gurnett CA, Dobbs MB. The genetics of isolated and syndromic clubfoot. J Child Orthop. 2019 Jun 1;13(3):238-244. doi: 10.1302/1863-2548.13.190063.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31312262 (View on PubMed)

D-Bar Enterprises [Internet]. Missouri: D-Bar Enterprises. Product Guide and Catalog ® Bar; 2015 [cited 2021 May 27] Available from: https://www.dobbsbrace.com/products.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Provided Documents

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Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Other Identifiers

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1000078967

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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