Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

There might be more varieties than you realize.

Cerebral palsy refers to non-progressive conditions in which body movements are affected resulting in physical disability. A lesion or defect in the brain causes motor dysfunction affecting muscle tone, posture, and movement. Reflexes and coordination are also affected. Affected children also show disorders of gait, eating, learning, and intellect. The dysfunction affects young children and may set in at or soon after birth.

“This condition can affect one or more limbs, leading to a spectrum of impairments,” says Gregory Przybylski, MD, with the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute, JFK Medical Center, in Edison.

• Spastic cerebral palsy is the most common type of cerebral palsy and is characterized by increased muscle tone.
  
• Non-spastic cerebral palsy involves decreased and/or fluctuating muscle tone and is divided into two groups, ataxic and dyskinetic.
  
• Ataxic cerebral palsy affects coordinated movements, including balance and posture.
  
• Dyskinetic cerebral palsy is separated further into two different groups: athetoid and dystonic. Athetoid cerebral palsy includes cases with involuntary movement, especially in the arms, legs, and hands. Dystonia/dystonic cerebral palsy encompasses cases that affect the trunk muscles more than the limbs and results in fixed, twisted posture.
  
• Mixed cerebral palsy includes impairments that fall into both categories, spastic and non-spastic.