Modern Technologies of Medical Rehabilitation of Children with Post-traumatic Neuropathies of the Upper Extremities

• Published in: Bulletin of Rehabilitation Medicine Vol. 20; no. 4; pp. 72 - 81
• Main Authors: Maya A. Khan, Maya A., Vakhova, Ekaterina L., Aleksandrov, Aleksander V., Turova, Elena A., Gusakova, Elena V., Smirnov, Aleksander A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. National Medical Research Center of Rehabilitation and Balneology 31.08.2021
• Subjects: children; medical rehabilitation; physiotherapy; physiotherapy exercises; post-traumatic neuropathy
• ISSN: 2078-1962; 2713-2625
• DOI: 10.38025/2078-1962-2021-20-4-72-81

The proportion of injuries to the upper limbs, accompanied by nerve damage, ranges from 1.5 to 10%. Damage of the peripheralnerves of the upper limb in children is associated with fractures of the long bones in 10-12% of cases. The high incidence of damageto the peripheral nerves of the upper limb, the risk of impairment or loss of function, disability of the patient often requires not onlyactive conservative treatment, but also often surgical intervention. Aim. To analyze literature data and generalize the results of our own research to determine the optimal technologies for medical rehabilitationof children with post-traumatic neuropathies of the upper extremities. The success of both conservative and surgical treatmentof nerve injuries is largely determined by the volume and quality of the diagnostics performed. The goal of surgical or conservativetreatment of peripheral nerve damage is to restore the conduction of the nerve trunks with the highest possible functional result.Physical factors occupy one of the leading places in the system of medical rehabilitation of children with post-traumatic neuropathies.The medical rehabilitation program includes the use of apparatus physiotherapy, robotic mechanotherapy, applied kinesitherapy,massage, soft manual techniques, orthosis, and kinesiotaping. The leading technologies are the methods of motor rehabilitation. The effects of kinesitherapeutic influences are potentiated by neuromodulatory methods of hardware physiotherapy (magnetostimulation,electrical stimulation). Conclusion. Injuries to the peripheral nerves of the upper extremities in children requires long-term staged medical rehabilitation inmost cases. At the same time, to date, there are no clear recommendations for rehabilitation of children with damage to peripheralnerves in the postoperative period, there is no unified algorithm for rehabilitation measures. Motor rehabilitation technologies are keyin medical rehabilitation programs for children with post-traumatic neuropathy. The timely start of rehabilitation measures and differentiatedprescription of physical factors adjusted to the period of injury ensure the preservation of the result of surgical treatment,contribute to the early restoration of the function of the injured limb.