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How Can Limb-Lengthening Surgery Help Children with Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy can have a profound impact on a child’s growth and development. As a parent of a child with cerebral palsy, you are probably constantly looking into ways to improve your child’s quality of life. Although surgery is often considered a last resort, several surgical procedures have been shown to improve mobility, pain, and overall functioning in children with cerebral palsy. Limb-lengthening or leg-lengthening surgery is an orthopedic surgery that corrects leg abnormalities or length discrepancies. This procedure may help a child with cerebral palsy with walking and movement, but the procedure is also associated with several risks.
How Does Leg-Lengthening Work?
Many children with cerebral palsy have legs that are different lengths. This can make walking very difficult and painful. Leg-lengthening surgery involves cutting the leg bone and allowing the body to form new bone so that the leg is longer than it was before the surgery. This is typically accomplished by inserting a metal device inside of the leg that slowly increases the space between the leg bones that were surgically separated. The body will then naturally fill in the space with bone over time.
Does CBD Oil Alleviate Cerebral Palsy Symptoms in Children?
Public opinion about cannabis products has changed dramatically in the last several decades. More and more people are using products like cannabidiol, or CBD, to treat everything from chronic pain to seizures. If you are a parent of a child with cerebral palsy, you may watch your child struggle with muscle pain and stiffness, reduced mobility, involuntary movements, and a host of other symptoms. Some parents have found that CBD oil is an effective treatment option for children with cerebral palsy, however, there is still controversy and uncertainty surrounding cannabidiol.
What is CBD Oil?
While CBD oil is derived from cannabis, CBD oil is not the same thing as marijuana. Cannabidiol is one of the non-psychoactive active ingredients in the hemp plant. This means that users do not feel a “high” when they consume products containing only CBD. The World Health Organization reports that the substance “exhibits no effects indicative of any abuse or dependence potential” and most medical experts do not consider the product to be dangerous. However, the effectiveness of CBD oil has been called into question.
What Types of Alternative Therapies Could Help a Child With Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy can lead to life-altering symptoms. A child with cerebral palsy may have difficulty eating and speaking, walking, and using his or her muscles to complete everyday tasks. He or she may be afflicted with involuntary movements and muscle rigidity. Some cerebral palsy sufferers also experience intellectual disabilities and problems with learning and development. If your child has cerebral palsy, you may be interested in alternatives to traditional medical interventions.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Children with Cerebral Palsy
There is still much that we do not know about alternative treatment for cerebral palsy sufferers. Some families find that alternative therapy reduces their child’s CP symptoms and increases his or her quality of life. However, others do not find the treatments to be effective.
Preventable Birth Injuries May Result from a Doctor’s Mishandling of a Breech Birth
Ideally, a baby is born head-first. This ensures that the child can breathe as soon as his or her head clears the birth canal. A baby that is positioned incorrectly within the mother’s body during labor and delivery may suffer life-threatening birth injuries. Doctors may need to take corrective actions to reposition the baby or deliver the baby through Cesarean section (C-section.) If a doctor fails to handle a breech birth correctly, the baby may suffer serious or even fatal injuries.
Potential Remedies for a Baby in Breech Presentation
When a baby is in breech presentation, doctors have several choices. In some cases, the doctor may be able to manually reposition the baby so that the mother can continue with a vaginal delivery. External cephalic version (ECV) is a process during which a doctor pushes on the outside of the woman’s abdomen in order to manually reposition the baby. However, this procedure is not safe in situations involving multiples, rupture of the amniotic sac, abnormal fetal heart rate, low amniotic fluid levels, or vaginal bleeding.
What Types of Surgical Interventions May Benefit a Child with Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy is a life-changing medical condition that can affect everything from walking and eating to cognition and learning abilities. If you have a child with cerebral palsy, you know just how far-reaching the illness's effects can be. Fortunately, doctors and researchers are learning more and more about cerebral palsy every day. Many medical interventions, including several surgical procedures, may improve the quality of cerebral palsy sufferers' lives.
Orthopedic Surgery for Children with Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy can lead to rigid muscles, uncontrollable muscle movement, and difficulty with everyday tasks like using a pencil or showering. Children with cerebral palsy may struggle to gain the independence they crave because of their lack of muscle control. Orthopedic surgery has proven to be one method of improving functionality. As a parent, the thought of your child going under the knife may understandably be unnerving. Most parents try various other treatment options such as physical therapy and muscle injections before trying surgery. Unfortunately, these treatments do not always result in the relief doctors hope for.
Delayed Diagnosis or Misdiagnosis of Preeclampsia Can Lead to Preventable Birth Injuries
During pregnancy, the health of the growing fetus is directly tied to the mother’s health. If the mother suffers from a medical condition such as preeclampsia, this may have a direct impact on the baby’s wellbeing. For these reasons, doctors must closely monitor a pregnant mother’s health. The sooner a maternal health condition is diagnosed, the sooner treatment can begin. If a doctor fails to recognize the signs of a health complication during pregnancy, the baby may suffer an avoidable birth injury.
What is Preeclampsia?
Preeclampsia is characterized by high maternal blood pressure during pregnancy. Sometimes, a mother suddenly experiences elevated blood pressure, and other times, her blood pressure slowly rises over time. Blood pressure greater than 140/90 mm Hg is considered abnormal. Some mothers suffering from preeclampsia do not experience symptoms of high blood pressure. Others experience symptoms like:
How Do I Know If Medical Mistakes Led to My Baby Being Born Prematurely?
Premature birth, or birth before 37 weeks gestation, is associated with a range of medical concerns. A baby who is born too early may experience patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), low blood pressure, breathing problems, intraventricular hemorrhage, and other life-threatening medical problems shortly after birth. Premature babies may grow up suffering from intellectual disabilities, vision and hearing problems, cerebral palsy, and more. Sadly, some premature babies die during infancy. If your baby was born premature, you may question whether medical mistakes are to blame.
Risk Factors that Increase the Chances of Premature Birth
Understanding why a baby is born prematurely is often extremely difficult. Countless factors influence the health and growth of a fetus. However, researchers have identified certain risk factors that make premature birth more likely. These factors include:
Fetal Macrosomia: Potential Complications in Labor and Delivery
Most babies weigh between six to nine pounds at birth. While many people are aware of the risks premature and underweight babies face, fewer are aware of the risks associated with larger-than-average babies. “Fetal macrosomia” refers to an infant that weighs more than 8 pounds, 13 ounces. Fetal macrosomia occurs in just under 10 percent of newborns. While many babies with fetal macrosomia are born healthy, high fetal weight can increase the risks of birth injuries such as shoulder dystocia.
Potential Consequences of Fetal Macrosomia
Babies that meet the criteria for fetal macrosomia increase the chances of complications during labor and delivery. One of the primary concerns for large babies is the risk of shoulder dystocia. This condition occurs when the baby becomes lodged on the mother’s pelvis during delivery. The infant’s head is delivered, but his or her shoulders are too large to fit through the mother’s pubic bone. This potentially life-threatening condition must be immediately addressed. Shoulder dystocia may deprive the baby of oxygen which can cause brain damage in a matter of minutes. The condition may also place so much pressure on the baby’s neck and shoulders that the baby’s brachial plexus nerves are damaged.
Medication Mistakes During Labor and Delivery Can Cause Birth Injuries
Childbirth used to be extremely painful and had a high chance of infant or maternal death. Medications have made childbirth much safer for women in the western world. Unfortunately, the medications used to make childbirth easier and safer are sometimes the same medications that can cause preventable birth injuries. Incorrect administration, inaccurate dosing, and other medication mistakes can cause severe harm to infants and mothers.
Prescribing or Administering a Medication During Pregnancy That Harms the Baby
Women who are pregnant must be very careful of what they put in their bodies. While most people think of illicit drugs when they think of drugs that can harm an unborn child, prescription medications can also cause birth injuries or even fetal death. Many SSRI medications designed to treat depression such as Zoloft and Prozac are very dangerous to unborn children. Persistent pulmonary hypertension, cleft palate, and Spina Bifida are just some of the birth defects that may be caused by certain antidepression medications. Some antibiotic medications, acne medications, and seizure medications like Lamictal and Tegretol may also cause birth defects. Doctors who prescribe or administer these medications to pregnant women may be liable if the baby suffers a birth defect.
Was My Infant’s Spinal Cord Injury Caused by Medical Malpractice?
Our spinal cords serve numerous vital functions. Consequently, damage to the spinal cord before or during an infant’s birth can have profound consequences. Babies who sustain a spinal cord injury during birth may suffer from paralysis, difficulty breathing, digestion issues, and more. The infant may require extensive medical intervention to recover from the spinal cord damage or he or she may be disabled for the rest of his or her life. There are many different reasons that an infant may suffer a spinal cord injury. In some cases, a spinal cord injury is caused by negligent medical care during a child’s birth.
Trauma During Birth May Damage a Baby’s Spinal Cord
Often, spinal cord injuries during birth occur because there is an urgent need to deliver the baby so birth assistive tools are used. For example, if the baby is not receiving enough blood flow to the brain, doctors may need to manually assist labor using forceps or vacuum extraction. When used correctly, birth-assistive tools can save an infant’s life. However, misuse of these tools or using assistive tools with an alternative birthing method can lead to preventable birth injuries. Force applied manually or via assistive tools, external cephalic version, and excessive traction may cause the baby’s spinal cord to become bruised or torn.
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