Children's Neuromuscular Disorders

First published in 2009 as part of "Children's Orthopaedics and Fractures, Third Edition" Children's Neuromuscular Disorders has been written to give orthopaedic practitioners an easily accessible and concise description of neuromuscular disorders encountered in the practice of pediatric orthopaedic surgery.  The newborn child’s immature nervous system makes early diagnosis of some neurological disorders difficult. It is often only the passage of time which clarifies the severity and pattern. Careful analysis of motor skills, vision, hearing and speech allows us to assess milestones. Progress from head control to sitting, standing and the maturation of gait should be orderly. Informed examination and the chapter on gait analysis highlight this development. Chapters in this section describe neural tube defects, the recognition and management of cerebral palsy and, lest we forget, poliomyelitis. The section is completed by considering the muscular dystrophies and arthrogryposis. Table of contents 1. Gait Analysis 2. Neuromotor Development and Examination 3. Hereditary and Developmental Neuromuscular Disorders 4. Neural Tube Defects, Spina Bifida, and Spinal 5. Poliomyelitis 6. Orthopaedic Management of Cerebral Palsy 7. Arthrogryposis multiplex congenita 8. The Limping Child