Complications of Cerebral Palsey
Complications are conditions which may or may not arise as a result of cerebral palsey. In other words, having cerebral palsey can only potentially lead to the sufferer having other conditions. Such conditions which arise are referred to as complications. [What is the difference between complication and cerebral palsey symptoms or signs - This may be differentiated from cerebral palsey symptoms and signs, which are [ ]]. Below are some of the complications which may arise in a person suffering from cerebral palsey.
- Impaired intellectual development
The effect of cerebral palsey on the intellectual development of sufferers is quite evenly spread out. Approximately 33% of cerebral palsey patients are intellectually normal, 33% have mild intellectual impairment, while another 33% are moderately or severely impaired. Intellectual impairment is most common in children with spastic quadriplegia.
- Seizures
Seizures occur when there is an uncontrolled burst of electricity which disrupts the brain’s normal pattern of electrical activity. This complication is quite common, it can be seen in up to 50% of all cerebral palsey patients. Seizures can recur without a direct trigger (e.g. fever) called epilepsy.
There are 2 main types of seizures: Tonic-clonic seizures and partial seizures. Tonic-clonic seizures is the more severe one. It spreads throughout brain, possibly causing a sufferer to cry out, then fall unconscious. The sufferer’s legs and arms may twitch, exhibit convulsive body movement and he/she may lose bladder control. Partial seizures are confined to one part of brain. It can either be a simple or complex. A simple partial seizure cause muscles to twitch, accompanied by chewing movement and the sufferer feeling a numbness/tingling sensation. Complex partial seizures cause hallucination, staggering, random movement, impaired consciousness or confusion.
- Failure to grow and thrive
Another common complication of cerebral palsey in children with moderate-to-severe cerebral palsey, especially with spastic quadriplegia. Here, infants may fail to gain weight normally, young children are abnormally short and teenagers are short and have slow sexual development. This may be caused, in part, by a combination of poor nutrition but also damage to part of brain to control growth. For patients, especially those with spastic hemiplegia, their muscles and limbs are smaller than normal. This is because the limbs on the affected side of the body grows at a slower rate. Often the hand and feet are most severely affected.
- Problems with vision and sense of touch
Problems with vision and sense of touch are common for cerebral palsey patients, compared with the normal population at large. Differences in the right and left eye muscles cause the eyes to misalign (strabismus), resulting in double vision. For children, the brain adapts to the misalignment by ignoring the visual signal from one eye. As the result is poor vision and impaired depth of perception, some physicians recommend corrective surgery. Patients with hemiparesis may have hemianopia (impaired vision or blindness in half of the visual field in one or both eyes). Homonymous hemianopia cause impairment in the right or left half of visual fields in both eyes.
- Sensation of touch or pain
Stereognosis (impaired sensation of touch/pain) cause difficulty perceive/identify the form and nature of an object placed in their hand using the sense of touch alone.
- Others
Other complications that may arise in a person suffering from cerebral palsey include hip dislocation, curvature of spine (scoliosis), incontinence, constipation, tooth decay (dental caries), bronchitis, skin sores and asthma.
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