Treatment of spastic cerebral palsy focuses on descending tension

  Children with spastic cerebral palsy have increased muscle tone throughout the body, hyperactive tendon reflexes and ankle spasms. When standing and walking, there is generalized tension, and it is difficult to flex and straighten both upper limbs, and both lower limbs are often crossed. Because of the long-term increase of muscle tension, the tendon is easy to shorten and the joint contracture is deformed. For example, the Achilles tendon is shortened to form a pointed foot, when walking only with the toes on the ground, the knee flexion contracture is not easy to straighten, the hip flexion contracture can not be backward extension (the child can not do the action of kicking to the rear). Clinical practice over the years has confirmed that as long as the main problems of children with spastic cerebral palsy are clearly identified, we can treat them symptomatically.  There are three main problems in children with spastic cerebral palsy: excessive use of the upper limbs, which may lead to joint reactions and affect the development of the upper limbs; hip and knee flexion, lower limb inversion, internal rotation and plantarflexion of the talofibular joint, which lead to limited lower limb separation movements; and difficulty in supporting the weight of the lower limbs when the soles of the feet touch the ground. These problems all point to one thing: the presence of excessive muscle tone in spastic cerebral palsy, especially when the child is subjected to various stimuli (such as exertion, agitation, loss of balance, fear or anxiety), can further lead to an increase in muscle tone. Therefore, our treatment must start with the main problem of high muscle tone, including both rehabilitation and surgery. In the early stage, the main focus is on rehabilitation training: inhibit abnormal movement patterns of the lower extremities and avoid excessive force to do abdominal crawling movements; let the child obtain motor and intermediate stability of the pelvis; let the child learn to support weight symmetrically on the left and right when the sole of the foot touches the ground; promote sitting balance and stereo balance; let the child perform supine training to improve the strength of the abdominal muscle groups, stretch the shortened muscles, increase normal joint movement The main activities include normal active lateral weight shifting and normal active lateral upright response, etc.  Active parental training of children with spasticity can promote improved adaptation to the environment. As the child ages, the spastic muscles have difficulty synchronizing with skeletal growth, and various progressive deformities may develop. Early surgical intervention is also necessary to avoid the development of deformities that may lead to excessive disability. At present, we recommend that children with spastic cerebral palsy who are eligible for surgery undergo phase I surgery (FSPR) to relieve spasticity between the ages of 2.5 and 6, while phase II surgery (MMA) must be performed at the same time or in stages with adequate relief of spasticity; otherwise, the possibility of recurrence, poor long-term outcome and failure of surgery are inevitable. After surgery, rehabilitation is the most important thing, because the spasticity of the child is released and the muscle tone is reduced, so attention must be paid to strengthening muscle strength training, especially weight-bearing muscle strength training, mainly for the gluteus maximus, quadriceps and calf gastrocnemius.  In addition, posture and balance training, standing and walking training should pay attention to the scientific method, must also be long-term adherence. In conclusion, spastic cerebral palsy is the most common type of cerebral palsy in clinical practice, mostly seen in quadriplegia, bilateral lower limb palsy and hemiplegic cerebral palsy. At the same time, spastic cerebral palsy is also relatively easy to be treated, so it is important to have a clear understanding of it before treatment to avoid delaying scientific treatment.