Rectus femoris transfer in children with cerebral palsy: comparing a propensity score‐matched observational study to a randomized controlled trial.

Abbreviations RCT Randomized controlled trial RFT Rectus femoris transfer ROM Range of motion SEMLS Single-event multilevel surgery The aim of this paper was to test the ability to estimate the causal treatment effects of rectus femoris transfer (RFT) from observational data. As the name implies, a stiff knee gait involves a walking pattern with limited sagittal plane movement of the knee, which is characterized by a reduction in both knee flexion range of motion (ROM) and peak knee flexion. The results of the RCT showed modest treatment effects for a peak in swing phase knee flexion, knee flexion ROM, and knee flexion angular velocity. These include: (1) rectus femoris spasticity; (2) full passive knee extension or mild knee flexion contracture; (3) elevated knee flexion at initial contact; (4) delayed maximum knee extension; and (5) reduced knee flexion angular velocity. [Extracted from the article]