PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Charlie Fairhurst
TI  - Cerebral palsy: the whys and hows
AID  - 10.1136/edpract-2011-300593
DP  - 2012 Aug 01
TA  - Archives of disease in childhood - Education & practice edition
PG  - 122--131
VI  - 97
IP  - 4
4099  - http://ep.bmj.com/content/97/4/122.short
4100  - http://ep.bmj.com/content/97/4/122.full
SO  - Arch Dis Child Educ Pract Ed2012 Aug 01; 97
AB  - The descriptive term of cerebral palsy encompasses the largest group of childhood movement disorders. Severity and pattern of clinical involvement varies widely dependent on the area of the central nervous system compromised. A multidisciplinary team approach is vital for all the aspects of management to improve function and minimise disability. From a medical viewpoint, there are two pronged approaches. First a focus on developmental and clinical comorbidities such as communication, behaviour, epilepsy, feeding problems, gastro-oesophageal reflux and infections; and second on specifics of muscle tone, motor control and posture. With regards to the latter, there is an increasing number of available treatments including oral antispasticity and antidystonic medications, injectable botulinum toxin, multilevel orthopaedic and neurosurgical options and a variety of complementary and alternative therapies.