Innovative method to treat patella alta in a patient with spastic cerebral palsy: a case report with literature review

Abstract

Patella alta is a common condition in ambulatory patients with cerebral palsy, especially those with crouch gait. The treatment of symptomatic patella alta in such patients is complex and conservative methods seldom provide satisfactory results. Thus, patellar tendon advancement surgery is often required and can be, if necessary, combined with other surgical procedures. Here, we report a case of combining both conservative method and surgical procedure in a 26-year-old female patient with cerebral palsy and bilateral patella alta. One month prior to surgical intervention we administered a botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) in the ipsilateral quadriceps. Reduced muscle spasticity of the knee extensor mechanism facilitated the patellar tendon shortening procedure and yielded excellent postoperative results. After a six-month postoperative rehabilitation course, the patient had no pain and the knee range of motion improved from 5-50° preoperatively to 0-140° postoperatively in both knees. To our knowledge, we are the first to report a use of preoperative BTX-A in the treatment of patella alta in a patient with cerebral palsy. The efficacy and safety of this treatment modality may give encouragement to a wider use of preoperative BTX-A in order to facilitate surgical intervention and postoperative rehabilitation in cases of muscle spasticity.

Keywords

• patella
• patellar ligament
• cerebral palsy
• spasticity
• botulinum toxins