Ipsilateral Lower Limb Weakness After Sarcoma Treatment: A Case Report

Case Diagnosis: Our patient experienced worsening left foot neuropathy following chemotherapy and radiation treatment for sarcoma. Case Description: A 24-year-old man underwent local resection of a 12cm x 8cm x 14.5cm rhabdomyosarcoma in the left vastus lateralis. Then, he was treated with vincristine for 40 weeks and radiation to the left lateral thigh with a maximum dose of 50.4 Gy. The sciatic nerve was outside the target area and received a lower dose. While undergoing chemotherapy, the patient experienced bilateral dysesthesias in his fingertips and feet. He had no history of neuropathy prior to treatment. After chemotherapy was completed, these symptoms subsided in all extremities except the left foot, which developed atraumatic plantar flexion and dorsiflexion weakness, great toe extensor and flexor weakness, decreased sensation in the distal left toe to the metatarsal. Electromyography and needle conduction studies demonstrated left worse than right polyneuropathy mainly affecting the tibial and peroneal motor nerves. There was no clear evidence of a single nerve compressive lesion and repeat scans of the thigh showed no new lesion. Given the presence of milder nerve abnormalities on the right in addition to left sided weakness, the cause is likely multifactorial and temporally related to cancer treatments. Discussions: Persistent or worsening features may appear in patients who received vincristine despite termination of treatment. The pattern is typically sensorimotor; however, this patient demonstrates mainly motor abnormalities. The left worse than right pattern could suggest radiation-induced neuropathy, but no myokymic potentials were seen. Myokymic potentials are common in radiation neuropathy, although their absence does not rule it out. Treatment included physical therapy, gabapentin, and an ankle foot orthosis. Conclusions: Fourteen months after completing radiation and seven months after completing chemotherapy (seven months after symptom onset), the patient’s symptoms are markedly improved. This case demonstrates that neuropathy after treatment in sarcoma patients may be multifactorial

Total Joint Replacement Prehabilitation: A Feasibility Study

Objectives: Pre-operative physical therapy has been shown to reduce post-acute care service utilization. Shifting rehabilitation to the presurgical period, referred to as prehabilitation, could result in reduced recovery time and cost. Limited access to physical therapy may prevent patients from achieving the benefits, and a standard set of independent exercises may be an alternative. We aim to assess the feasibility of an independent exercise program as a pre-surgical intervention for total hip and knee replacement. Design: Participants were taught two exercises for hip or knee arthritis at least one week prior to surgery and instructed to perform them independently at home. Subjects were contacted three days to one month post-operatively and surveyed about discharge, frequency of exercise, and living status of alone or with others. No adverse effects were reported. Additional information was collected from the subjects’chart including age, BMI, and sex. Discharge outcomes were compared with pre-existing independent factors using univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: A total of 80 subjects were followed with a home discharge rate of 78.75%. Univariate analyses showed that the presence of other people in the home showed a slight, but non-significant, association with differences of discharge destination. 82.1%-83.3% of patients who live with others were discharged home versus 57.1% of patients living alone (LR chi-square: 3.84, p=0.15). Multivariate analyses showed a slight, but non-significant, association between frequency of prehabilitation and discharge destination (OR=1.212; 95% CI, 0.960-1.530). BMI showed no associated difference in discharge destination. Conclusions: Increased frequency of prehabilitation and presence of others at home showed slight associations with increased discharges to home, but were non-significant. Increased exposure to prehabilitation (duration times frequency) trends toward more frequent home discharge. Independently performed prehabilitation may be offered as an alternative pre-surgical intervention with likely little to no adverse effect. Larger numbers are needed to determine likelihood of discharge home