Cerebral palsy of the child in rehabilitation environment: epidemiologic and clinical profile and therapeutic modalities.

Introduction: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of permanent disorders of the development of movement and posture causing activity limitation.

Aim: To evaluate the epidemiological, clinical, and radiological profile of children with CP and to study the therapeutic modalities in daily clinical practice.

Method: This was a retrospective, descriptive study, carried out in a physical medicine and rehabilitation department, including all the patients referred with the diagnosis of cerebral palsy between January 2000 and December 2016. We used pre-established records to collect data. The missing data were collected from the files of the pediatric department. To classify cerebral palsy, we used a motor impairment classification, topographic classification according to the affected limb and the GMFCS - ER.

Results: Fifty patients were included with a gender ratio of 1.23. The mean age of patients was 7.8 years old. The risk factors for CP were mainly represented by perinatal asphyxia (55%) and prematurity (37%). The spastic form was predominant (74%). Quadriplegia was the most severe clinical form (61%). Neuro-orthopedic deformations were found in 78% of cases. Half of the children had GMFCS score between 1 and 2. Brain MRI lesions were dominated by anoxic-ischemic sequelae (34%). Physical therapy was prescribed for all patients. The most prescribed devices were the dynamic ankle foot orthosis (60%). Baclofen was prescribed in 5% of cases and botulinum toxin injection was performed in 30% of children.

Conclusion: The cerebral palsy defines the clinical and functional disorders caused by non-progressive developmental damage to the brain of the infant which requires a multidisciplinary management.