Nodular Shrinking in Dupuytren Disease

Dupuytren disease (DD) is a common hand disorder with disabling finger contractures that may require surgery to restore function. In the early stages of the disease, the nodules (Tubiana stage 0) are usually painless, but a reason for concern to many patients. Not rarely, lifestyle measures and even risky treatment options as radiotherapy are advised, yet no therapy to prevent disease evolution has a solid proven effect. Furthermore, reliable non-invasive measurement of early stage DD is not validated. Evidence was found that pharmacotherapy may influence DD evolution, but valuable clinical trials are limited. Case series and non-published explorative follow-up suggested local treatment with antioxidant vitamin E to possibly interfere with an evolution of DD nodules to contracting strands. This study aims to provide evidence on efficiency of this non-invasive treatment option. Secure measurement of nodule evolution is a clinical challenge. To measure this evolution, ultrasound and MRI scanning are currently being performed. Stage 0 (nodules) is more challenging to quantify. A strict individual follow-up by the treating clinician is needed to standardize measurement of selected (treated) nodules. Therefore, simple ultrasound by the treating clinician may provide an good tool to collect data. This study aims to introduce and validate this non-invasive scan method and provide a prospective double blind investigation of a measurable effect of non-invasive preventive treatment for stage 0 DD to improve clinical outcome.