Post-operative in-patients pediatric rehabilitation at Humanitas Research Hospital
Post-operative in-patients pediatric rehabilitation at Humanitas Research Hospital
Post-operative pediatric rehabilitation is a complementary and interdisciplinary activity of pediatric orthopedic surgery.
It offers assistance for functional rehabilitation both in minor pathologies (clubfoot, congenital torticollis, scoliotic attitudes, hip dysplasia) and in the major ones (cerebral palsy, spina bifida, obstetric brachial plexus palsy and other genetic syndromes).
Great attention is paid to the rehabilitative therapeutic post-surgical orthopedic journey of the child. Humanitas Research Hospital is a leader in Italy in the functional recovery of patients that underwent “functional” surgery in skeletal muscle deformities associated with neuromotor diseases.
The decision of performing surgery is shared by the team of specialists of the multidisciplinary team. At that time, the physiotherapist makes a clinical evaluation of the patient and an assessment of the motor potentials of the upper and lower limbs, in order to determine the most suitable rehabilitation program for each patient.
After surgery, the physiotherapist follows the pediatric patient from the first post-operative day and performs a first educational session for the caregiver (usually a relative) and for the patient himself. This session mainly concerns the management of any casting or brace and gives advice about the recommended or permitted postures.
In the following days, the patient undergoes an intensive care cycle with two physiotherapy sessions a day, according to national and international protocols. This procedure allows, as shown by scientific evidence, a faster recovery of the motor functions and the achievement of a greater autonomy or of the greatest possible autonomy.
Rehabilitation is not only performed during hospitalization. The parents receive rehabilitation protocols that can be performed at home. Each patient is then checked after one month to evaluate improvements.
This protocol that starts the rehabilitation in the immediate post-operative period and foresees a follow-up of the patient at home is unique in Italy.