Cerebral palsy: Effects of early brain injury on development

Abstract

The term cerebral palsy (CP) was originally coined more than a century ago and loosely translated as brain paralysis. A precise definition has remained elusive because CP is not a single diagnosis but an umbrella term describing nonprogressive brain lesions involving motor and postural abnormalities that are noted during early development [1]. Recently, the executive committee for the definition of cerebral palsy has proposed a new definition: CP is a multi-faceted phenomenon wherein motor limitations are often accompanied by disturbances of sensation, cognition, communication, perception, and behaviour, by epilepsy, and by secondary musculoskeletal problems. Other complications include among others feeding difficulties, pain, and functional gastrointestinal abnormalities contributing to bowel obstruction, vomiting, and constipation [2] © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.