Question

What are the clinical manifestations of pediatric cerebral palsy?

Answer

The clinical manifestations of pediatric cerebral palsy mainly fall into the following categories:

  1. Delayed motor development: Children with cerebral palsy will lag behind normal children in motor development, such as lifting their heads, sitting independently, crawling, standing, and walking.
  2. Abnormal muscle tone: Spastic cerebral palsy children will have gradually increasing muscle tone, manifested as extended lower limbs and internal rotation; dyskinetic cerebral palsy children will show low muscle tone in infancy and gradually increase.
  3. Reduced voluntary movement: Children with cerebral palsy have fewer movements in the neonatal period, such as weak suckling and feeding responses; by three months, the kicking movements of the lower limbs decrease or both legs kick simultaneously; hemiplegic cerebral palsy children show reduced activity on one side.
  4. Abnormal reflexes: Children with cerebral palsy may lack protective reflexes and the ability to maintain balance.