{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/25839"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/25839","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Assessment of spastic patients before and after selective posterior lumbar rhizotomy","abstract":"For many decades people working with spastic patients have searched for better methods of alleviating spasticity and its debilitating effects. Although many methods have been used, no single method has been completely successful. It was not until the nineteen seventies that Selective Posterior Lumbar Rhizotomy (SPLR) was used successfully with spastic patients. In 1980 Peacock started doing this procedure on a large number of spastic patients in South Africa. I became interested in SPLR after seeing the dramatic reduction in spasticity and the improvement in function in my patients who had undergone the procedure. Since observations of improvement up to this point had been subjective, I decided to measure and document the physical status of patients before and after surgery. Twenty-nine patients who underwent Selective Posterior Lumbar Rhizotomy in 1985 were studied. In order to be as objective as possible, crawling and gait analyses were done in addition. All the patients were assessed clinically two days prior to surgery and then between four and fourteen months after surgery. For both preoperative and postoperative assessments, resistance to passive movement, degree of joint stiffness, ability to initiate and inhibit voluntary movement, and the degree of abnormal function in the developmental positions (rolling, sitting, kneeling, crawling, standing and walking) were graded on rating scales. Analyses of gait and crawling were done using a digital camera system. Results of the study indicated that SPLR produced a statistically significant reduction in muscle tone and in joint stiffness. Improvements in voluntary movement and functional movement (rolling, sitting, kneeling, crawling, standing and walking) were also statistically significant. It was concluded that Selective Posterior Lumbar Rhizotomy is a useful method of reducing spasticity and results in improvement of the quality of life in patients with spastic cerebral palsy.","abstract_html":"For many decades people working with spastic patients have searched for better methods of alleviating spasticity and its debilitating effects. Although many methods have been used, no single method has been completely successful. It was not until the nineteen seventies that Selective Posterior Lumbar Rhizotomy (SPLR) was used successfully with spastic patients. In 1980 Peacock started doing this procedure on a large number of spastic patients in South Africa. I became interested in SPLR after seeing the dramatic reduction in spasticity and the improvement in function in my patients who had undergone the procedure. Since observations of improvement up to this point had been subjective, I decided to measure and document the physical status of patients before and after surgery. Twenty-nine patients who underwent Selective Posterior Lumbar Rhizotomy in 1985 were studied. In order to be as objective as possible, crawling and gait analyses were done in addition. All the patients were assessed clinically two days prior to surgery and then between four and fourteen months after surgery. For both preoperative and postoperative assessments, resistance to passive movement, degree of joint stiffness, ability to initiate and inhibit voluntary movement, and the degree of abnormal function in the developmental positions (rolling, sitting, kneeling, crawling, standing and walking) were graded on rating scales. Analyses of gait and crawling were done using a digital camera system. Results of the study indicated that SPLR produced a statistically significant reduction in muscle tone and in joint stiffness. Improvements in voluntary movement and functional movement (rolling, sitting, kneeling, crawling, standing and walking) were also statistically significant. It was concluded that Selective Posterior Lumbar Rhizotomy is a useful method of reducing spasticity and results in improvement of the quality of life in patients with spastic cerebral palsy.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Berman, Barbara"],"institution":"Division of Occupational Therapy","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Vaughan, Christopher Leonard (Kit)"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1988,"date_issued":"1988","date_published":"1988","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:05Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25839","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Vaughan, Christopher Leonard (Kit)"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Berman, Barbara"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2017-10-27T06:34:38Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-10-27T06:34:38Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["1988"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Division of Occupational Therapy"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape Town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["MSc (Med)"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25839"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["For many decades people working with spastic patients have searched for better methods of alleviating spasticity and its debilitating effects. Although many methods have been used, no single method has been completely successful. It was not until the nineteen seventies that Selective Posterior Lumbar Rhizotomy (SPLR) was used successfully with spastic patients. In 1980 Peacock started doing this procedure on a large number of spastic patients in South Africa. I became interested in SPLR after seeing the dramatic reduction in spasticity and the improvement in function in my patients who had undergone the procedure. Since observations of improvement up to this point had been subjective, I decided to measure and document the physical status of patients before and after surgery. Twenty-nine patients who underwent Selective Posterior Lumbar Rhizotomy in 1985 were studied. In order to be as objective as possible, crawling and gait analyses were done in addition. All the patients were assessed clinically two days prior to surgery and then between four and fourteen months after surgery. For both preoperative and postoperative assessments, resistance to passive movement, degree of joint stiffness, ability to initiate and inhibit voluntary movement, and the degree of abnormal function in the developmental positions (rolling, sitting, kneeling, crawling, standing and walking) were graded on rating scales. Analyses of gait and crawling were done using a digital camera system. Results of the study indicated that SPLR produced a statistically significant reduction in muscle tone and in joint stiffness. Improvements in voluntary movement and functional movement (rolling, sitting, kneeling, crawling, standing and walking) were also statistically significant. It was concluded that Selective Posterior Lumbar Rhizotomy is a useful method of reducing spasticity and results in improvement of the quality of life in patients with spastic cerebral palsy."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Assessment of spastic patients before and after selective posterior lumbar rhizotomy"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Vaughan, Christopher Leonard (Kit)"],"dc:creator":["Berman, Barbara"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2017-10-27T06:34:38Z"],"dc:date.available":["2017-10-27T06:34:38Z"],"dc:date.issued":["1988"],"dc:description.abstract":["For many decades people working with spastic patients have searched for better methods of alleviating spasticity and its debilitating effects. Although many methods have been used, no single method has been completely successful. It was not until the nineteen seventies that Selective Posterior Lumbar Rhizotomy (SPLR) was used successfully with spastic patients. In 1980 Peacock started doing this procedure on a large number of spastic patients in South Africa. I became interested in SPLR after seeing the dramatic reduction in spasticity and the improvement in function in my patients who had undergone the procedure. Since observations of improvement up to this point had been subjective, I decided to measure and document the physical status of patients before and after surgery. Twenty-nine patients who underwent Selective Posterior Lumbar Rhizotomy in 1985 were studied. In order to be as objective as possible, crawling and gait analyses were done in addition. All the patients were assessed clinically two days prior to surgery and then between four and fourteen months after surgery. For both preoperative and postoperative assessments, resistance to passive movement, degree of joint stiffness, ability to initiate and inhibit voluntary movement, and the degree of abnormal function in the developmental positions (rolling, sitting, kneeling, crawling, standing and walking) were graded on rating scales. Analyses of gait and crawling were done using a digital camera system. Results of the study indicated that SPLR produced a statistically significant reduction in muscle tone and in joint stiffness. Improvements in voluntary movement and functional movement (rolling, sitting, kneeling, crawling, standing and walking) were also statistically significant. It was concluded that Selective Posterior Lumbar Rhizotomy is a useful method of reducing spasticity and results in improvement of the quality of life in patients with spastic cerebral palsy."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25839"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Division of Occupational Therapy"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["Assessment of spastic patients before and after selective posterior lumbar rhizotomy"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["MSc (Med)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:05Z"}