Active clinical trials for "Cerebral Palsy"

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders of the development of movement and posture but often changing motor impairment syndromes. The spastic subtypes are the most common manifestations of cerebral palsy who perform movement difficultly due to hypertonia. Decease of spinal cord pathway, hyperactivity of alpha and gamma motoneuron and reduction of presynaptic inhibition may cause tendon reflex increase and hypertonia in individuals with CP. There are many ways to improve the hypertonia. In the past studies, the fast repeated range of motion could reduce muscle's activation effectively. The polyarticular movement training might increase joint range of motion and reduce the muscle activation. But the polyarticular movement training is difficulty for some individuals with CP. The single joint movement training may achieve the same effect as the polyarticular movement training. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of continuation passive range of motion (CPM) training whether could get the improvement of soleus hypertonia in individuals with CP.

The purpose of this study is to determine if adding hippotherapy treatment will improve balance for children ages 5-17 who have disabilities such as cerebral palsy and down syndrome. We also want to find out if by improving their balance the children increase their participation in age appropriate activities.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of an additional distal rectus femoris transfer carried out as a part of single-event multilevel surgery in children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy.

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of umbilical cord blood therapy for children with cerebral palsy.

Children with developmental disabilities often sustain decreased range of motion in their extremities. The decrease in flexibility may be due to neuromuscular disorders such as spasticity or dystonia. Other causes may be imbalance in muscle strength surrounding a joint, leading to inappropriate habitual posture. Over time, muscle contracture may result for those muscle groups that are placed in a shortened position for an extended period of time. The most common site of muscle contractures among these children are gastrocnemius/soleus (lower limbs), and latissimus dorsi muscles (upper limbs). Muscle contractures can lead to further decline in functional abilities. Therefore, it is important to identify effective intervention strategies to enhance or maintain muscle flexibility in children with developmental dysfunctions. Commercially available endermotherapy device has been used to soften scar tissue following burn injuries. The mechanical stimulation applied may also have beneficial effects on relaxing the muscle tissue. The overall aim of the proposed study is to determine whether endermotherapy treatment has immediate effect in improving joint range of motion among children with developmental disabilities. The research hypothesis is that children in the endermotherapy group will have significantly more gain in ankle passive range of motion than those in the control group.

Cerebral palsy is common. It affects approximately 3 per 1000 children. Hip displacement due to muscle tightness (spasticity) occurs in up to half of the more severely affected children, and many of these children require major (bony) hip surgery. After bony hip surgery the management of pain is very difficult, as spasticity tends to increase and causes painful spasms which are difficult to control. Botulinum Toxin injections are known to reduce spasticity and therefore should also reduce pain. These injections take at least a week to work, but the effects can last for months. Botulinum Toxin is already an established treatment for chronic hip pain prior to surgery. The investigators aim to find out whether Botulinum Toxin injections can reduce post-operative pain. The identification of the level of pain can be challenging because most of these children are unable to communicate verbally. The investigators are therefore using a validated pain scoring tool that was designed especially for such children. This study will be the first to describe fully the pain experience of children with cerebral palsy undergoing this type of major surgery. The investigators will compare Botulinum Toxin injections with placebo (non-active) injections. There is a high emotional and financial burden on the families of these children. Families describe high levels of emotional distress around the time of surgery, particularly when their child is in pain. Difficulty with pain control post operatively may delay discharge from hospital and parental return to work. It causes disrupted sleep for the child and family and may delay the child's return to school. The results of this study will be shared with professionals and families at international conferences and in scientific and popular (patient-based) publications. This study cannot be undertaken in adults with cerebral palsy as they only rarely undergo this sort of surgery.

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is the most common cause of physical disability in childhood. Up to day the investigators have treated children diagnosed cerebral palsy with side-alternating whole body vibration (System Galileo®) from the age of two years on. Considering verticalisation (standing and walking) at about 12 months of age in a normal developing child the investigators suggest the introduction of verticalisation with whole body vibration to a child with CP at this early age in order to enhance motor development and participation. In this pilot study the investigators will test the feasibility and the effect on motor development of whole body vibration in children with CP from 12 months of age. The investigators will investigate the effect of whole body vibration on motor performance, independence in all day living situations, quality of life and contractures compared to a control group.

This study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of BOTOX® (botulinum toxin Type A) in pediatric patients with lower limb spasticity.

The study aims to evaluate evidence-based practice behavior in usual care physical therapy in Flanders. Secondly, it aims to compare the effectiveness of a predefined physical therapy program based on evidence-based guidelines to the effects of a period of usual care. It is hypothesized that supporting therapists by providing a predefined evidence-based intervention program, will result in an improved treatment outcome compared to the usual care physical therapy.

Children with cerebral palsy commonly use standing frames to position them to help prevent contracture and deformity and to help their function. There is a lack of evidence to support the correct dosage of standing frame use. The aim of this study is to pilot a randomised controlled trial of the clinical effects of doubling the duration of standing, using standing frames, in young children who are unable to walk, who have cerebral palsy or developmental delay. It will determine whether it is feasable to carry out a multi-centred trial. The study objectives will be to determine: presence of adverse events recruitment and drop out rate compliance with the intervention feasibility of the randomisation and minimisation process the proportion of the outcome measures taken effect size estimate required study costs effectiveness of blinding procedure