Orthotics lower limbs in children with spastic forms of cerebral palsy: (literature review)

Abstract

Background. Cerebral palsy (CP) is an important medical and social problem due to the high frequency of childhood disability and a significant prevalence of the disease. One of the features of cerebral palsy is the formation of secondary orthopedic complications, for the correction of which, along with surgery and botulinum therapy, technical rehabilitation devices and orthoses in particular are used.
 Aim: To analyze world experience in orthotics in children with cerebral palsy. World literature review in open electronic databases PubMed and Elibrary for the last 30 years. The most of publications focuses on ankle-foot orthoses as the most commonly used in foreign clinical practice. A minimal number of papers cover the problem of orthopedic footwear, despite on its prevalence in Russia. There are no works analyzing the frequency characteristics of orthoses used, including the likelihood of their reuse and rejection. There is no unified, generally accepted terminology and classification of orthoses. We found no articles covering the effectiveness of combined use of several types of orthoses. To date, no clinical guidelines for orthotics in children with cerebral palsy have been developed; therefore, in many cases, orthoses are prescribed empirically.
 Conclusion. Thus, further research of the role of orthotics in the medical rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy appears to be an urgent task.