Gait Reeducation in Children with Spastic Diplegias: Therapeutic Rationale
摘要
For each clinical form of spastic diplegia, principles of reeducational treatment are illustrated relating to various suitable tools such as therapeutic exercises, orthoses/devices, focal/district/systemic pharmacological treatments, as well as options for functional orthopedic or neurological surgery. In particular, the ability to start and stop walking, gait pattern, speed, safety and resistance, and the possibility of maintaining this in adolescence and adulthood are analyzed. Treatment of spasticity may require the use of drugs with focal, district or systemic action. Prevention and correction of secondary deformities may require functional orthopedic surgery as well as neurosurgery (selective dorsal rhizotomy). Among deformities that can compromise acquired ability to walk are equinus foot associated with valgus pronation, patellar rise, and hip dislocation. Influence of perceptive components justifies a particular use of gaze, alignment of trunk and its plane of oscillation, movements of upper limbs, and use of aids or devices. Specific considerations are addressed to the treatment of double hemiparesis.