Personal Injury Law

Treatment for Childhood Florida Spinal Cord Injuries

By Flaxman & Lopez

Florida spinal cord injury patients often receive their injuries from Florida car accidents, swimming pool accidents, and other accidents. In some cases, the victims of such accidents are children and minors. According to University of Florida researchers, however, some children may be overlooked for a Florida spinal cord injury treatments which could help them.

At a Society for Neuroscience meeting, University of Florida researchers presented details of a Florida spinal cord injury case in which a child with incomplete spinal cord injury was diagnosed as unlikely to walk again. However, after taking part in a locomotor training program at the University of Florida, the child was able to regain walking ability within four years. The University of Florida researchers further presented three other case studies in which children with incomplete spinal cord injuries saw improvement with locomotor training, some regaining the ability to take steps.

The University of Florida researchers were taking part in the Kids Step Study, conducted by Brooks Rehabilitation and the University of Florida. The study, led by professors Andrea Behrman and Dena Howland, suggests that many children who sustain Florida spinal cord injuries are overlooked for these promising programs of treatment due to the way that spinal cord injuries are diagnosed.

Currently, many physicians diagnose injury and the possibility of recovery by determining whether a patient displays early leg movement. Patients who do not show early leg movement are considered unlikely to walk again. However, the University of Florida researchers found that even children who showed little or no leg movement were still able to make improvement with locomotor training.

The locomotor training program run by Behrman and Howland involves repetitive and intense practice of task-specific exercises. The aim of the exercise is to prompt the neuromuscular system into walking and muscle control. Even some patients who did not recover the ability to walk with the program, according to Behrman and Howland, increased trunk mobility and control. Currently, no other program exists to help patients with severe Florida spinal cord injuries activate the neuromuscular system to prompt recovery.

Full post as published by Florida Injury Lawyer Blog on December 02, 2010 (boomark / email).