FAQRESULTS Forty-two children entered the trial with 21 participants randomized to each group.There were three withdrawals and two children received serial casting midway through the trial. There was no significant difference in passive dorsiflexion between 12-monthly and 4-monthly regimens (p=0.41). There were also no significant between group differences on secondary outcome measures. There were no serious adverse events -the rate was 1.2 adverse events per child per year in the 12-monthly group and 2.2 adverse events per child per year in the 4-monthly group. Subgroup analysis revealed a significant difference in passive dorsiflexion between children with hemiplegia and diplegia (p=0.01).

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ABBREVIATIONS MCIDMinimal clinically important difference PADKE Passive ankle dorsiflexion range with the knee extended AIM The aims of this study were to (1) determine whether an instrumented measure will reduce measurement error to less than 5°in children with cerebral palsy (CP), (2) determine agreement and reliability of this instrumented measure in both conscious and anaesthetized participants, and (3) compare the method with previously reported measures.METHOD Thirty-four ambulant children (15 males, 19 females), aged 3 to 9 years, with spastic CP were studied in a tertiary-care paediatric hospital (21 with hemiplegia, 11 with diplegia, and two with quadriplegia). The majority of children functioned at Gross Motor Function Classification System level I (n=11) or II (n=18), with five children at level III. Ankle dorsiflexion at 50% bodyweight was photographed and measured. Each child was measured when conscious and when under mask anaesthesia by two experienced assessors. RESULTS