Children with cerebral palsy will be able to receive care in an integrated treatment institution with a multidisciplinary treatment environment.
The Southern Center for Pediatric Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Limb Deformity was officially inaugurated in Guangzhou this morning. It is the first and currently the only pediatric cerebral palsy treatment center in China led by pediatric orthopedic surgeons. Through multidisciplinary collaboration, the center will build a comprehensive, lifelong multidisciplinary treatment environment for patients with cerebral palsy and developmental limb deformities. Several well-known expert medical teams from China and abroad have already joined the center. In addition to clinical treatment, the center will also develop international-level influence in research and teaching. Guangzhou’s capabilities in the treatment of pediatric cerebral palsy and developmental limb deformities have been further strengthened.
Guangzhou’s strong medical environment attracts expert teams, with capabilities leading nationally
Cerebral palsy is a nightmare for any happy family, yet public understanding of the condition remains limited. In China, treatment specifically for patients with cerebral palsy has generally been carried out within individual departments. The lack of multidisciplinary collaboration has led to suboptimal treatment outcomes and long-term consequences.
Today’s unveiling ceremony brought together many leading figures, with more than a dozen top medical experts in cerebral palsy, orthopedics, and related fields attending. Professor Wen Weiqun, President of the Guangdong Maternal and Child Health Association, said that although maternal and child health hospitals have taken many measures to prevent childhood diseases, some conditions cannot be avoided in advance and impose a heavy burden on society and families. He said, “With the establishment of the Pediatric Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Limb Deformity Treatment Center, children with cerebral palsy in our province will receive scientific, standardized, and effective treatment from the time of birth. We are willing to provide a better and more professional platform for experts and scholars, and to contribute to medicine in our province and even across the country.”
Medical experts have noted that China’s medical standards have developed rapidly. In treating cerebral palsy and the orthopedic problems it causes, China does not lack advanced technology or talent, and progress in the concepts and models of interdisciplinary collaboration has been gradually accelerating. At present, there is a broad consensus in the international medical community that cerebral palsy involves multiple disciplines. In addition to pediatric orthopedics, neurology, neurosurgery, rehabilitation medicine, and other specialties must participate jointly to build a comprehensive, lifelong multidisciplinary treatment environment for patients. This has created an urgent need for an international-standard comprehensive treatment institution for pediatric cerebral palsy.
It is understood that Guangzhou is currently at a nationally leading level in the treatment of pediatric cerebral palsy and developmental limb deformities. The city already has several well-known and mature expert medical teams from China and abroad, giving it strong capabilities and attracting patients from China and overseas to seek medical consultation and treatment in Guangzhou. Wen Weiqun believes that Guangzhou’s strong medical environment and mature medical technologies have laid a solid foundation for establishing China’s first pediatric cerebral palsy and developmental limb deformity treatment center led by pediatric orthopedic surgeons. According to the reporter, the Southern Center for Pediatric Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Limb Deformity is located at Shantou University Guangzhou Huaxin Orthopedic Hospital, which itself has several renowned medical teams. Professor Jin Dadi and Professor Li Xu are both well-known experts and academic leaders in related fields in China, and several of their medical cases have attracted attention domestically and internationally.
Is cerebral palsy difficult to treat?
Expert: With appropriate treatment, most patients with cerebral palsy can also lead independent and successful lives
Cerebral palsy refers to a group of disorders in which brain injury occurring during the perinatal period or early after birth, due to various causes, leads to impaired motor function in children. It may or may not be accompanied by emotional, cognitive, language, intellectual, and neurobehavioral abnormalities. It is one of the major diseases causing motor dysfunction in children.
The incidence of cerebral palsy is approximately two to three per thousand. Statistics indicate that China has more than 6 million patients with cerebral palsy, and medical research has found that this number is increasing by 40,000 to 50,000 each year. With social development and advances in medical care, the incidence of cerebral palsy has not decreased and has even shown a gradual upward trend. This is because many children born prematurely, with low birth weight, with perinatal hypoxia, or with severe illnesses early after birth have survived through modern medical treatment; however, brain injury may have occurred during this process, damaging the brain regions responsible for movement.
An encouraging case: a 23-year-old patient with cerebral palsy admitted to graduate school
The diagnosis and treatment of cerebral palsy are widely recognized as a long and complex process that requires sustained social commitment. Some family members of patients with cerebral palsy, not knowing where to take their children for medical care, often turn to various unproven alternative therapies. One example previously widely reported by the media was “needle-sealing therapy for cerebral palsy.” Not only does the general public have many misunderstandings about this type of disease, but some family members even ask, “Can my child have cerebral palsy if my child is not intellectually disabled?” Even some orthopedic specialists have asked, “Why is cerebral palsy not treated by treating the brain?”
In fact, cerebral palsy is caused by injury to the brain regions responsible for motor control in early childhood, resulting in limb deformities and motor dysfunction. “Cerebral palsy is a disease that can cause disability and affect a patient’s ability to walk. Its incidence is about two to three per thousand, which is relatively high among diseases causing childhood disability,” said Professor Li Xu, a renowned pediatric orthopedic expert and postdoctoral medical fellow. However, because the public does not understand this disease well, and even many professionals have misconceptions about it, patients with cerebral palsy have long been overlooked. Parents often do not know how to seek medical care and are easily persuaded by various unproven therapies, which can delay treatment for their children.
Professor Li Xu said that with appropriate treatment, most patients with cerebral palsy can absolutely have independent and successful lives. “Appropriate treatment can help significantly improve limb function in patients with cerebral palsy, promote normal development, enhance walking and mobility, enable independent living, and reduce the caregiving burden on family members. Therefore, scientific, standardized, and effective treatment methods are the key to cerebral palsy treatment.”
“There was recently a very encouraging case: a 23-year-old patient with cerebral palsy, who had never been able to stand independently, successfully passed the graduate entrance examination for a leading university and is now in the first year of graduate study,” Professor Li Xu said. He noted that the “palsy” in cerebral palsy refers to the disease state of the limbs. Although cerebral palsy involves injury to the brain’s motor function areas, it does not necessarily involve intellectual impairment or dysfunction in other brain regions. In fact, many patients with cerebral palsy are very intelligent. He explained that the brain injury in cerebral palsy is static, but limb deformities and movement disorders can progress. Although modern medical treatments cannot directly repair or reconstruct the injured functional areas of the brain, limb deformities and motor dysfunction can be treated and improved. By correcting limb deformities, promoting normal development of the bone and joint system, improving movement and walking ability, and enhancing function, patients with cerebral palsy can absolutely have independent and successful lives.
Guangzhou Daily all-media text reporter: Quan Jie
Guangzhou Daily all-media editor: Zhao Xiaoman