What is pediatric rhizotomy?
Pediatric rhizotomy, more commonly called selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR), is a surgery that relieves the muscle tightness or stiffness (spacticity) caused by spastic cerebral palsy. What is spasticity? Spasticity is a condition in which muscles are continuously contracted and resist being stretched out. The contraction causes stiffness or tightness that can interfere with movement, speech and walking. Spasticity is usually caused by damage to the portion of the brain or spinal cord that controls voluntary movement. It sometimes occurs with spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, head injury and metabolic diseases. Some people with spacticity experience only mild stiffness, while others have severe, painful and uncontrollable muscle spasms. Who can benefit from SDR? Selective dorsal rhizotomy is for children with cerebral palsy who have muscle tightness that interferes with movement. There are two groups of children who may benefit from SDR: • Spastic diplegics – These
