Child Rehabilitation Medicine

Children's Rehabilitation Medicine is the assessment and treatment of neuromotor disabilities in childhood, in particular infantile cerebral palsy, neuromuscular diseases, genetic and matabolic encephalopathies, and congenital spinal cord injuries.

Care activities

Inpatient activity is devoted to the evaluation and treatment of muscular-tendinous and skeletal deformities resulting from perinatal cerebral lesions, or acquired later with secondary spasticity. In particular, functional neurorehabilitation surgery and intrathecal baclofen pump implants are performed.
Children's Rehabilitation Medicine offers outpatient or day hospital care:

• botulinum toxin inoculation treatments, also under sedation, for the treatment of spasticity;
• level II evaluations for patients in charge of Child Neuropsychiatry in Bologna and province, Ferrara, Imola;
• evaluation and treatment of motor functions for users from all over the country through dedicated paths: botulinum toxin, aids and orthoses, functional neurorehabilitation
  surgery;
• insertion of orthoses and aids for the support of motor functions such as walking, sitting posture, gesture, assisted movement, communication and playfulness for infants at high pathological risk for the Azienda USL and the Azienda Ospedaliera Policlinico di Sant'Orsola di Bologna;
• collegial paediatric orthopaedics assessments in collaboration with IOR.

In addition, Child Rehabilitation Medicine:

• has multidisciplinary outpatient clinics for the pharmacological treatment of movement disorders;
• has a multidisciplinary outpatient clinic for neuromuscular diseases for users from outside the region;
• participates in two PDTAs (Diagnostic Therapeutic Assistance Pathways), one dedicated to chronic children at risk of developing multiple disabilities, the other to neuromuscular diseases;
• participates in the regional PDTA for rare diseases;
• is part of integrated programmes with the Aids Area and the Centre for Linguistic and Cognitive Disabilities of the Bologna AUSL for the introduction of high-tech aids to support communication, gestures and play.

Research activities

Three research projects are currently under way

• Retrospective cohort study on walker type in children with neuromotor disabilities
• Postural management in the prevention of hip dislocation in children with tetraplegic cerebral palsy
• Care Pathways for PCI rehabilitation treatment

Publications

See the list of the most representative publications of this Unit.

Staff

Antonella Cersosimo, Director of Child Rehabilitation Medicine, Neurologist and Physiatrist
Nicoletta Battisti, Physiatrist
Alessandra Feliciangeli, Physiatrist
Marco Pelagalli, Paediatric Surgeon
Annarosa Colonna, Child Neuropsychiatrist
Francesca Pulvirenti, Physiatrist

The team is completed by three physiotherapists from the Rehabilitation Department of the Maggiore Hospital:
Annalisa Groppi,
Milena Pagnoni
Patrizia Lugari.

and a nurse:
Paola Ferraris, from the Neurology Services of the Bellaria Hospital.

Contact

Telephone 051-659.78.11
Fax 051-659.77.35