Cerebral Palsy in Children: Improving Quality of Life and Preventing Painful Musculoskeletal Disorders
A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Orthopedics & Sports Medicine".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 882
Special Issue Editors
Interests: paediatric orthopaedics; neuro-orthopaedics; child movement development; sensomotor and musculoskletal disorders; interdisiplinary screening and prevention of pain; improving quality of life in neuromotor diseases
2. Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Interests: public health; physiotherapy; neuroorthopaedics; scientific publishing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cerebral palsy is the most common cause of movement impairment in childhood. It is a group of disorders caused by a developmental disorder or damage to the developing brain before, during or after birth, which, depending on their severity and localisation, are associated with various sensory and motor dysfunctions and changes in the shape of the locomotor organs. Disorders of walking, standing, sitting, grasping, seeing, hearing, sense of balance, exteroception and proprioception, postural control, communication, cognition, psyche, emotions and behaviour can lead to a considerable reduction in quality of life if pain, restriction of social participation, independence and mobility are present.
In children with cerebral palsy, lack of exercise, non-use and overuse syndromes regularly lead to secondary, initially reversible functional disorders of the sensorimotor system and the locomotor organs and cause musculoskeletal pain. If these are not treated at an early stage, irreversible misalignments of the locomotor system develop with changes in the muscular lever arms, fasciae, joint capsules and deformities as well as dislocations of the joints and bones. The resulting painful neurogenic hyperkyphosis, hyperlordosis, scoliosis, hip dislocations, joint contractures and hand and foot misalignments can usually only be treated palliatively at great expense.
This Special Issue about current research aims to give a deeper understanding of the pathogenesis and possibilities of preventing musculoskeletal pain in children with cerebral palsy.
Numerous studies in recent years have shown that the massive impairment of quality of life caused by these consequential damages can be significantly reduced by screening and secondary preventive measures. There is increasing evidence that new approaches, such as early treatment with verticalisation, movement, supra-threshold strength, coordination and endurance training, postural management and regular sensory input through senso-orthotics, including the stabilisation of unstable joints and exceeding the necessary minimum load and vascularisation of the tissues of the locomotor organs, as well as normal endorphin release, can contribute to pain relief, motivation, physiological sensorimotor development and improvement in quality of life.
We are looking for scientific papers that summarise the current state of knowledge and integrate our own experimental studies and clinical experience in order to provide practitioners and carers with guidance for the treatment of children with cerebral palsy.
Prof. Dr. Walter Strobl
Dr. Mathilde Sengölge
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- cerebral palsy
- quality of life
- musculoskeletal pain
- secondary prevention
- neuromuscular gait disorders
- neuromuscular hip dislocation
- neuromuscular scoliosis
- early treatment
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