This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Meythaler, J. M. Articles by Tuel, S. M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Meythaler, J. M. Articles by Tuel, S. M. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Effect of Dorsal Rootlet Rhizotomy on Function and Spasticity in a Patient with Multiple Sclerosis

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Teresa M. Plucinski

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Leland L. Cross

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, VA

Tae S. Park

Washington University, Children's Hospital, St. Louis, MO

Lawrence H. Phillips

Department of Neurology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, VA

Stephen M. Tuel

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Baylor University, Houston, TX

Selective dorsal rootlet rhizotomy (SDRR) permits a more controlled step-wise approach to the treatment of spasticity. This procedure allows one to modulate the afferent input to the spinal cord without affecting the efferent output to the anterior horn cell. SDRR allows for a selection of the motor levels affected by spasticity while preserving others. Reported is a case in which SDRR was performed to improve function and reduce spasticity in a patient with multiple sclerosis. As a result of the procedure, the patient's muscle tone was reduced but not ablated, allowing for self-catheterizations, improved sitting posture, transfers, and a gain of at least one full muscle grade in voluntary motor control of the lower extremities. Selective dorsal rootlet rhizotomy offers an alternative to other more radical surgical procedures in modulating spasticity in multiple sclerosis when medical management is not sufficient.

Key Words: Multiple sclerosis • Spasticity • Rehabilitation.

Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, Vol. 6, No. 1, 21-24 (1992)
DOI: 10.1177/136140969200600103


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?