Spastic Cerebral Palsy – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Spastic cerebral palsy is the most common type, making upover 70 percent of all CPdiagnoses.What is Spastic Cerebral Palsy?

Spastic cerebral palsy is a developmental disorder caused by damage to the brain before birth, during delivery, or within the first few years of life.

This condition prevents the normal development of motor function.

Spastic CP is characterized by jerky movements, muscle tightness and joint stiffness.

This type ofcerebral palsy often makes simple tasks more challenging, such as walking or picking up small objects. Some children with spastic CPalso develop co-occurring conditions as a result of their brain injury. These coexisting conditions can range from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) toepilepsy.

There are 4 main types of cerebral palsy, and each CP diagnosis can be further broken down tomore accurately describe ones brain damage and related symptoms. The various types of spastic cerebral palsy are classified based on the location of movement issues. For example, children with spastic CP may have muscle stiffness in one arm, both legs or one full sideof their body.

Muscle stiffness occurs primarily in the legs. This type of CP may also slightly affect mobility in the childs arms.

One side of the body is affected by movement problems, with the arm typically being stiffer than the leg.

All four limbs are affected, as well as the torso and face.Children with quadriplegia often have co-occurring disorders, such as epilepsy.

Cerebral palsy is a catch-all term for developmental movement disorders caused by a brain injury. Each type of cerebral palsy is caused by damage to a specific part of the brain.

Spastic cerebral palsyiscaused by damage to the motor cortex and the pyramidal tracts of the brain, which connect the motor cortex to the spinal cord.Understanding the function of the motor cortex and pyramidal tracts helps to explain how damage to these systems affects movement in those with spastic CP.

The motor cortex is located in the cerebral cortex, which is the largest part of the brain. The motor cortex is composed of several parts that are responsible for relaying signals to other parts of the brain to control movement.

The most important aspect of the motor cortex in relation to cerebral palsy is its regulation of voluntary movement. Damage to this region of the brain makes voluntary movement harder to control and less fluid, or spastic.

The pyramidal tracts in the brain are the roads of communication between the cerebral cortex and the nerves in the spinal cord. If pyramidal tracts are damaged, the motor cortex cant send proper signals to the spinal cord. The spinal cord is one half of the central nervous system, with the other half being the brain and brain stem. These parts of the brainareessential for sensory functions such as sight, touch and movement.

The motor cortex and pyramidal tracts may be damaged by:

Several risk factors may increase the likelihood of a developmental brain injury occurring. Poor maternal health and a low birth weight are just some of the risk factors for any type of cerebral palsy.

The signs and symptoms of spastic cerebral palsy are different for every child. Differences in symptoms depend on the severity of the childs brain injury and any co-occurring disorders that may be present.

In general, the most common symptoms of spastic CP are:

Co-occurring issues may also present themselves, such as hearing and vision impairment, but these arent directly related to the cerebral palsy; they are caused by the initial birth injury.

In the first years of a childs life, it can be very hard to recognize the signs of cerebral palsy. This is because symptoms typically do not present themselves until a child begins missing developmental milestones. During toddlerhood, many children tend toexhibit some of the same jerky reflexes associated with spastic CP. It can take up to 5 years of agebefore a full cerebral palsydiagnosis is reached.

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Treatment for spastic CP varies with each case. The severity of symptoms, thelocation of movement problems and any secondary conditions are the biggest factors in outlining treatment. However, there are five main routes of treatment for CP: physical, occupational and speech therapy, medication and surgery.

The first type of treatment prescribed to children with spastic CPis typicallyphysical therapy. The goal of physical therapy is to provide as much independence to the child as possible.This treatment is centered on flexibility exercises and stretching out stiff muscles.

Physical therapists will typically use daily range-of-motion (ROM) and stretching exercises to improve mobility of joints and soft tissues.Physical therapists often useage-appropriate toys and games to make the therapy enjoyable for the child.This type oftherapy can help improve overall motor function and prevent any future complications.

Another form of therapy used to treatchildren with spastic CP is occupational therapy. The goal of occupationaltherapy is to improve achilds ability to perform daily tasks and activities independently in the home, school, work and public environments.

Occupational therapists perform exercises that target certain muscles in the wrist, forearm, thumb and upper body. This treatment is beneficial forspastic CP because it focuses on improving motor control, bilateral coordination and upper body strength. Occupational therapists canalso assess the need for various assistive devices, such as adaptive scissors or writing utensils.

Speech therapy is used to improve oral movements in children with spastic CP. The objective of speech therapy is to strengthen the muscles used for speech, which helps with articulation and coordination.Some children with this type of CPmay experience drooling or difficulty swallowing or speaking. Performing exercises that incorporate assistive communication devices can help improve motor and cognitive abilities, as well as confidence.

Speech therapy provides the tools forchildren with spastic CPtoclearly communicate their thoughts and socialize with others. This form of therapy can also help makechewing, breathing and swallowing less difficult, allowingfor normal growth and development.

Medications,such asBenzodiazepines, are taken orally to relieve muscle stiffness and improve movement throughout the body.There are also medications that can treat muscle stiffness in specific parts of the body, such as the legs or arms.

Fora child with spastic CPthat also experiences seizures, doctorsoftenprescribe medications that can control the frequency of these episodes.Similarly, medications such as diazepam (Valium) can be used to relax muscles. This is particularly helpful in treating spasticity in the lower legs. The goal of using medications to treat this type ofCPshould be tofind medications with the most effective results, as well as the lowestamount of negative side effects.

Surgery may be a large part of treatment for children with spastic cerebral palsy. There are several types of surgeries that are used to correct joint dislocations, shortened muscles and sensory impairments that hinder normal motor function. Selective Doral Rhizotomy (SDR) is a common surgery associated with children who have spastic cerebral palsy. The goal of this surgery is to relax the muscles and improve mobility in variousareas.

Every child with CP is different, and some require more treatment than others. All parents should have the same goal when it comes to treatment, which is to give their child the best life possible.There is help available for parents exploring treatment options and the costs associated with their childs condition.

To learn more about spastic cerebral palsy, try downloading our free Cerebral Palsy Guide.Thisguideincludes over 60 pages of in-depth information for children and parents of a child with CP.

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Spastic Cerebral Palsy - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment