Neurological Impairments Flashcards
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
damage to the brain by an external force
Decorticate rigidity
UE are in spastic flexed position w/internal rotation and adduction.
LE are in spastic extended position, internally rotated, and adducted
Decerebrate rigidity
UE/LE are in spastic extension adduction, and internal rotation. Wrist/fingers flex while plantar portions of the feet flex/invert, the trunk extends and the head retracts.
ataxia
abnormal movement resulting from cerebellum damage
Client’s w/abnormal tone or posturing should…
lay on their side or semiprone to help normalize tone/provide sensory input.
Ataxia - OT Intervention
compensatory strategies for control such as weighting body parts
- hand-over-hand exercise
- follow steps/pictures or words on a note card
Feeding TBI - OT Intervention
- isolated/quiet room to prevent distraction
- rocker knife, plate guard, non-spill mug
Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
results from trauma to the spinal cord
myelomeningocele
birth defect caused when the backbone and spinal canal do not close before birth
syringomyelia
growing cyst in spinal cord
Incomplete lesion
involve a number of neurological segments and sensorimotor function may be partially or completely intact.
Complete lesion
in the absence of motor/sensory function below the level of injury
SCI - OT Interventions
Acute Phase
-positioning/splinting=prevent deformity and loss of motor function
Active Phase
- sitting upright in chair to develop sitting tolerance
- Performing AROM/PROM and resistive exercises
- Performing ADLs
AE
- Universal cuff for eating/grooming/writing/typing
- Wrist-cockup splint for pts w/little wrist extension
- plate guard, cup holder, extended straw facilitate feeding
- wash mitt, soap holder, soap on a rope for bathing
Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA) - Stroke
neurological dysfunction caused by a lesion in the brain
Symptoms
- trunk/postural control
- fall risk
- limits functional activity
- dependence for ADLs
- impairment in standing, WB, weight shifting, stepping activities
- communication impairment
Transient ischemic attacks (TIA)
result from vascular disease in the brain and may be mild, either single or multiple. (ministrokes)
A left CVA produces a…
right hemiplegia
A right CVA produces a….
left hemiplegia
global aphasia
loss of all language ability
Broca’s aphasia
broken speech, slow labored speech
Wernicke’s aphasia/Receptive aphasia
impaired auditory reception, speech may be fluent but is often meaningless/nonsensical
Anomic aphasia
difficulty finding words
Dysarthria
articulation disorder resulting from paralysis of the organs of speech
spatial relations/positioning
difficulty perceiving distance/object placement
spatial neglect
inability to recognize stimuli in a particular area of the environment
Body neglect
spatial neglect of the pts own body
motor apraxia
difficulty completing planned movements
ideational apraxia
difficulty conceptualizing planned, multistep movements
figure-ground
difficulty differentiating an object from its natural background
visual agnosia
difficulty recognizing objects
