Athetoid Cerebral Palsy

Things You Should Know About Athetoid Cerebral Palsy

Athetoid is uncontrolled  movement, muscle tone may fluctuate from increased to absent as the limb is moved, children with athetoid cerebral palsy are characterized by slow, writhing, twisting, worm-like movements, particularly involving the neck, face, and extremities. Athetoid is not present during sleep. Athetoid cerebral palsy in child there is lack of controlled mobility on the neck, trunk, and proximal joints, movements are involuntary and exhibit excessive mobility from one limit of motion to the other.

The athetoid cerebral palsy, usually there is quadriplegic involvement, but sometimes there is only hemiplegic involvement. Children with athetoid like movements. They often maintain abnormal and persistent primitive patterns of movement. One compensation they may make involves the use of an asymmetrical tonic neck reflex to attain stability. Children with athetoid cerebral palsy can’t hold their heads in the midline because of this primitive reflex.

Chidren with athetoid cerebral palsy has better control of the feet than proximal muscle, they will start to develop extensor tone from the feet up rather than from the head down. Low fluactuating muscle tone allows a broad range of motion in all joints, joint dislocation may result from this hyperextension. The shoulder especially may dislocated easily and painlessly.

The caused of children with athetoid cerebral palsy more commonly lesions in the basal ganglia typically cause fluctuating in muscle tone. The treated athetoid cerebral palsy by slow stroking for relaxation. Maintained holding patterns are stimulated at first and then patterns that involve keeping the distal segment stabilized while the proximal segment moves are used. When control is developed, the child with athetoid cerebral palsy is progressed to movement patterns such as crawling and creeping.