Orthopedic Management of Children with Cerebral Palsy

Book excerpt: Each child with cerebral palsy is absolutely unique and the professionals looking after the child must provide an evaluation of his or her specific situation. In publishing this book, the editors and authors have followed a well-defined theme: even if the initial focus is orthopedics, it is aimed towards a comprehensive approach to understanding children with cerebral palsy. The reader who is aware of the orthopedic problems encountered in cerebral palsy will find the most recent data regarding various aspects of the pathology enlightening. It will also give them the opportunity to find answers to questions professionals regularly ask themselves: what are the necessary checks-ups to be done in other areas, what other measures need to be planned (whether medical, paramedical, school-related, family or socially-oriented), and how to fit all of these in with orthopedics. This book offers an approach by a group of cerebral palsy specialists who are culturally open to the worldwide community, but whom also hold on to their specific disciplines and origins as well as their differences as source of cultural wealth. This book focuses on the comprehensive approach to understanding children with cerebral palsy and beyond, to the care extended to their families, to the patient's educational life as well as to their very unique being and identity.