Physical and occupational therapy Physical therapy and Occupational Therapy are staple treatments of ADCP. Physical therapy is initiated soon after diagnosis and typically focuses on trunk strength and maintaining posture. Physical therapy helps to improve mobility, range of motion, functional ability, and quality of life. Specific exercises and activities prescribed by a therapist help to prevent muscles from deteriorating or becoming locked in position and help to improve coordination. Occupational therapy interventions for children with CP emphasises function, and therapists assist with activities of daily living, such as feeding, dressing, bathing and toileting, grooming. Various areas of occupation are also considered, and the occupational therapist may assist the child with pencil grasp and handwriting skills and play. The occupational therapist makes use of everyday activities in order to reach a functional outcome. Speech therapy Speech impairment is common in ADCP patients. Speech therapy is the treatment of communication diseases, including disorders in speech production, pitch, intonation, respiration and respiratory disorders. Exercises advised by a speech therapist or speech-language pathologist help patients to improve oral motor skills, restore speech, improve listening skills, and use communication aids or sign language if necessary. Drug therapy Medications that impede the release of excitatory neurotransmitters have been used to control or prevent spasms. Treatment with intrathecal baclofen, a gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) agonist, decreases muscle tone and has been shown to decrease the frequency of muscle spasms in ADCP patients. Tetrabenazine, a drug commonly used in the treatment of Huntington's disease, has been shown to be effective treating chorea. Deep brain stimulation Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a technique that uses electrodes placed in the brain to modify brain activity by sending a constant electrical signal to the nearby nuclei. Treatment of muscle tone issues via deep brain stimulation typically targets the global pallidus and has shown to significantly improve symptoms associated with ADCP. The specific mechanism by which DBS affects ADCP is unclear. DBS of the globus pallidus interna improves dystonia in people with dyskinetic CP in 40% of cases, perhaps due to variation in basal ganglia injuries.
Athetoid cerebral palsy
Ataxic cerebral palsy
Spastic cerebral palsy
Dyskinetic cerebral palsy
Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy
Infantile progressive bulbar palsy
Acrocallosal syndrome
Dorian Gray syndrome