Neuro-Orthopaedics
Severe loss of movement is often the result of neurological disorders, such as a stroke or brain injury. Ordinary daily activities such as walking, eating, and dressing can be difficult, and sometimes impossible to accomplish, for people affected by spasticity, fixed muscle shortening and loss of mobility.
At Penn, our neuro-orthopaedic service offers the latest advances in diagnosis and treatment to patients whose arms or legs are impaired by brain injury, stroke, anoxia, central nervous disorders or orthopaedic conditions.
Penn Neuro-Orthopaedics focuses on recovering lost function, regaining mobility, and improving performance in persons with permanent disabilities or chronic disease.
Mary Ann Keenan, MD,
director of the Penn Neuro-Orthopaedic service, has developed many of the evaluation and surgical
techniques used in reconstructive neuro-orthopaedics, and has published and lectured
extensively worldwide.
Conditions Treated
The Penn Neuro-Orthopaedic service is appropriate for patients with orthopaedic problems caused by the following neurologic disorders:
- Stroke
- Brain injury
- Spinal cord injury
- Cerebral palsy
- Multiple sclerosis
- Polio
- Charcot-Marie Tooth disease
Surgical Procedures
Penn Neuro-Orthopaedics successfully treats a wide range of arm and leg problems, including:
- Stiff shoulder
- Flexed elbow deformity
- Clenched-fist and thumb-in-palm deformity
- Hip and knee contractures
- Stiff-knee gait
- Scissoring gait
- Foot deformities
- Walking problems due to abnormal postures of the foot
Neuro-Orthopaedic management of these problems is aimed at the correction of limb deformities and the removal of bone that grows near the joints, through reconstructive and joint replacement surgery.