Expert Surgical Care for Patients with Spasticity
The Surgical Spasticity Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s helps families explore surgical solutions for their child’s spasticity and dystonia. Our experienced, multidisciplinary team includes a pediatric neurosurgeon, pediatric rehabilitation medicine doctor and physical therapist. During every clinic visit, they evaluate your child together in one room. It allows patients and families to have all of their questions answered by multiple specialists at the same time.
The Surgical Spasticity Clinic offers two main surgeries for children with spasticity:
- Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR). SDR involves identifying the nerve roots that connect the spinal cord to the leg muscles, then selectively cutting any roots that are causing spasticity.
- Baclofen pump implantation. Baclofen is a medication that acts on the central nervous system to relax muscles. A device called a baclofen pump delivers the medicine directly to the target site around the spinal cord.
Comprehensive Surgical and Follow-Up Care
Our team has treated hundreds of children and young adults with spasticity over the years. This deep experience helps guide the treatment plan, surgical care and long-term follow up. We offer:
- Minimally invasive techniques. Our pediatric neurosurgeon performs surgeries in a minimally invasive way. This means less blood loss, less recovery time and less pain for your child.
- Broad surgical eligibility. Our patients include children of all ages, including toddlers and young adults who have been told elsewhere that they are too young or too old for spasticity surgery.
- Gait analysis. Specialists in the Motion Analysis Lab evaluate your child’s gait before and after surgery using the state-of-the-art Raptor4Motion Analysis System. This helps the care team plan your child’s surgery and track progress.
