Static and dynamic problems in spastic cerebral palsy.
1. Analysis of the static and dynamic conditions in spastic cerebral palsy leads to the conclusion that contractures of the hip, knee and ankle should be released from above downwards, and that the full benefit is obtained only when all contractures have been corrected.<br /> 2. Only when these joints are mobilized by removal of the significant contractures is the spastic patient able, despite other handicaps, to sit, stand and walk with the least hindrance and the least cosmetic fault.<br /> 3. In our Danish experience, inadequate or poor results from the orthopaedic surgery of cerebral palsy are mainly due to the fact that patients with contractures are operated on too little and too late, or not in the correct sequence.
Reimers
J
J
Orthopaedic Hospital and the Clinic for Handicapped Children, Rigshospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.