Sitting Postural Management to Prevent Migration Percentage Progression in Non-Ambulatory Children with Cerebral Palsy: Randomized Controlled Trial Preliminary Data

Abstract

Background/Objectives: To determine whether a sitting position with the femoral heads centered into the acetabulum is more effective than the usual sitting position in preventing migration percentage progression in non-ambulatory children with bilateral cerebral palsy. Methods: This was a multicenter, randomized controlled trial. Inclusion criteria: spastic or dyskinetic cerebral palsy, Gross Motor Function Classification System level IV-V, age 1–6 years, migration percentage <41%, and informed consent. Exclusion criteria: contractures affecting the hip, anterior luxation, previous hip surgery, and lumbar scoliosis. The treatment group sat with their hips significantly abducted to reduce the head into the acetabulum in a customized system for at least five hours/day for two years. Controls sat with the pelvis and lower limbs aligned but the hips less abducted in an adaptive seating system. The primary outcome was migration percentage (MP) progression. Health-related quality of life and family satisfaction were among the secondary outcomes. The study was approved by the local ethics board and conducted in accordance with CONSORT reporting guidelines. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04603625. Results: Overall median MP progression was 1.6 after the first year and 2.5 after the second year. No significant differences were observed between the groups. MP exceeded 40% and 50% in 1.8% and 0% of the experimental group and 5.4% and 3.6% of controls in years 1 and 2, respectively. Both groups expressed satisfaction with the postural system and stable health-related quality of life. Conclusions: MP remained stable over the two-year period in both groups. Considering outliers which progressed over 50%, a more protective trend of the hip-centering sitting approach emerged, but this needs to be confirmed in a final, larger dataset.