Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Dec;19(4):3085-3090.
doi: 10.4314/ahs.v19i4.30.

A review of clinical presentation and physiotherapy management of cerebral palsy patients in Esut teaching hospital, Enugu, Nigeria

Wilfred Okenwa  1 , Anthony Edeh  2
Affiliations

A review of clinical presentation and physiotherapy management of cerebral palsy patients in Esut teaching hospital, Enugu, Nigeria

Wilfred Okenwa et al. Afr Health Sci. 2019 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Cerebral palsy affects the general neurological development of those involved. This usually culminates into various muscular deficits some of which are amenable to physiotherapy intervention and rehabilitation.

Method: A 6 year retrospective study was conducted to find out the clinical presentation and physiotherapy management of cerebral palsy patients in ESUT Teaching Hospital Enugu, Nigeria, between June 2009 and May, 2015.

Result: 146(30.2%) cases of cerebral palsy were noted out of 483 children seen within the period. There was male predominance n- 86(58.9%) and the commonest cause of cerebral palsy was birth asphyxia n- 56(38.4%).Several physiotherapy treatment modalities were applied, the common ones being neurodevelopment therapy, trans-cutaneous electric nerve stimulation, and passive and active exercise modules.Majority of the patients' accessed treatment less than 5 times n- 86(59%) and were lost to follow up subsequently. Slightly more than 10% of the patients accessed treatment consistently for 3 months.

Conclusion: High level of abandonment of treatment and lack of more modern physiotherapy modalities were noted. There is need to emphasize better health education of parents/guardians of the patients and improve social welfare benefits for the patients.

Keywords: Cerebral palsy; rehabilitation; social welfare.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Rosenbaum P, Paneth N, Leviton A, et al. A report of the definition and classification of cerebral palsy. April 2006. (Erratum appears in Dev med child Neurol 2007, 49:n480) Dev Med Child Neurol. 2007;49(suppl 109):8–14. - PubMed
    1. Ogunlesi T, Mojisola O, Folashade A, Bolanle F, Olusoga O, Adebiyi O. Socio- clinical issues in Cerebral palsy in Sagamu Nigeria. South African Journal of Child Health. 2008;2(3):120–124.
    1. “Cerebral Palsy: Hope through Research”. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; 2013. Jul, [Feb. 18, 2018]. NIH Pub No. 13-159. Updated Feb. 12, 2018.
    1. Russman BS, Ashival S. Evaluation of the child with cerebral palsy. Seminars Pediatric Neurology. 11(1):47–51. - PubMed
    1. Hutton Jl, Pharoah PO. Effects of Cognitive, Motor and sensory disabilities on survival cerebral palsy. Archives of Diseases in childhood. 2002;86(2):84–89. - PMC - PubMed