How to prevent and treat pediatric cerebral palsy?

  People with cerebral palsy are found everywhere, regardless of the country or region. To date, there is no way to completely prevent the occurrence of pediatric cerebral palsy. However, by taking appropriate measures to address the causes of pediatric cerebral palsy, such as ensuring that pregnant women undergo regular health checkups, it is possible to reduce its incidence and prevent the birth of a child with cerebral palsy to the greatest extent possible.  Generally speaking, children with perinatal asphyxia, prematurity, ischemic-hypoxic encephalopathy, and intracranial hemorrhage are more likely to develop developmental disorders, cerebral palsy, visual and hearing impairments, and other brain-injury sequelae than the average child. If early intervention is provided for children at risk, it can promote development and effectively reduce the incidence of diseases such as cerebral palsy. Studies have shown that early intervention for children at risk for cerebral palsy can lead to normal development or reduce the incidence of cerebral palsy in these children.  At the same time, it is important to understand that pediatric cerebral palsy is a non-progressive disease and that once the disease is present, the damage to brain cells is irreversible. In short, cerebral palsy is a disability that cannot be completely cured in the traditional sense. We can only improve the functions of the child with cerebral palsy to the greatest extent through active treatment and rehabilitation, and improve the ability to take care of himself. Therefore, we should never give up the treatment and training for children with cerebral palsy, and we should persevere and be persistent.  If parents find any abnormalities in the growth process of their child, they should immediately take the child to the hospital for further examination. Parents should communicate carefully with the professional doctor and tell the truth about everything before, during and after the birth of the child to provide a reliable basis for the doctor’s diagnosis. With the development of medical science and a lot of research, the key to treating cerebral palsy lies in the word “early”.  At present, most of the cerebral palsy patients receiving clinical treatment are children, and because of their young age, their parents take the lead in the process of medical treatment, and it is the parents who first discover their child’s abnormality, send them to the hospital, and then help them receive long-term rehabilitation. In this regard, the close cooperation of parents is very important and plays a key role in the rehabilitation effect of the child.  Cerebral palsy used to be divided into eight types. Currently, internationally, cerebral palsy is divided into three types: spastic, ataxic, and dyskinetic (including torsional spasm, chorea, and tardive dyskinesia), of which about 80% are spastic cerebral palsy, which can be treated with surgery along with rehabilitation. However, there are many methods of surgical treatment, and it is especially important to choose the best timing and surgical approach. Many patients choose the orthopedic rehabilitation method, which will cause the deformity to recur and the spasticity to remain within a short time after the surgery.  At present, we use intraoperative electrophysiological monitoring technology in the clinic, and choose the treatment pathway of releasing limb spasticity → rehabilitation → orthopedic → rehabilitation again, which is consistent with foreign treatment models, ensuring the surgical effect, reducing the risk of surgery, improving the surgical efficacy, also avoiding spasticity recurrence, improving motor function, improving the patient’s quality of life and working ability, and achieving the purpose of returning the disabled to society.  At this point, we should pay special attention to the fact that the time sequence between the first stage of cerebral palsy surgery (FSPR) and the second stage of surgery (CP-MMA) must not be mistaken, and the spasticity must be relieved by FSPR first before the muscle tone adjustment can be performed for corrective treatment, otherwise the deformity will definitely recur.  In particular, functional exercise after surgery is an essential element in determining the outcome. Generally speaking, it is best to train in the hospital under the guidance of a professional rehabilitator for one year after surgery, and the child must continue training at home after discharge to ensure the effectiveness of the treatment.