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Spasticity as a phenomenon has a cause, such as cerebral palsy (CP) or stroke, and is also the cause of our therapeutic and rehabilitative activities. Spasticity can be described using medical terminology or on the basis of the symptoms described by patients: Stiffness, restriction of movement, cramps, pain. The purpose and task of neuro-rehabilitation is to alleviate these symptoms, to make them disappear as far as possible and to improve quality of life.
The measures used for neuro-rehabilitation must be based on the conditions. Of course, these primarily concern the patients themselves: It is about the extent, the parts of the body affected and, of course, the quality and intensity of the symptoms.
Since a not inconsiderable proportion of patients with CP are children or adolescents, the approach must be age-appropriate.
However, the possibilities of the family and the conditions of the wider social environment must not be ignored with regard to therapeutic/rehabilitative measures.

This symposium will focus on some special therapeutic measures that are possible and should be discussed in individual cases in addition to standard rehabilitation.

Lecturer:

Dr. Jozef PRIBULA, PhD, MBA
"Spasticity - what it means"

Prof. Memet ÖZEK
"Neurosurgical methods for the treatment of spasticity."

Prof. Heinrich BINDER
"So-called conservative measures for the treatment of spasticity"

Dr. Brigitte FREUNDL
"Epidural and transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation for spasticity"

Prof. Dr. Leopold SALTUARI
"Intrathecal antispasmodic therapy"

Prof. Dr. M. Memet ÖZEK, M.D.
Trained as a pediatric neurosurgeon in the USA, he is currently one of the best in Turkey and worldwide in the treatment of complicated brain diseases in children. In the field of pediatric neurosurgery, Prof. Özek has more than 40 years of clinical experience and patients from all over the world. His special areas of interest include brain tumors, including deep-seated tumors of the brain stem, thalamus and hypothalamus; epilepsy surgery; spasticity surgery; congenital malformations such as hydrocephalus. He is an active member of national and international professional organizations, author and co-author of 4 book editions, 30 book chapters, 117 articles in English and numerous presentations and lectures at international conferences. President of the European Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery (ESPN) for 2008-2010.

Univ.-Prof. BINDER (AT)
Worked on setting up the neurology department at Vienna University Hospital. Since 1989, he has been the primary physician and medical director of the Maria-Theresien-Schlössel Neurological Hospital in Vienna. His main field of work is restorative neurology; in 2000 he succeeded in implanting an electrode stimulating the walking center into the spinal cord of a patient with paraplegia. He is a medical advisor to ADELI Medical Center in Piešťany, Slovakia.

Dr. Brigitte FREUNDL
Specialist in neurology and psychiatry, worked as a senior physician at the Neurological Center, SMZ Baumgartner Höhe - Otto Wagner Hospital in Vienna. She dealt with the problem of epidural stimulation of the lumbar spinal cord, which could stimulate locomotion centers below a paraplegic injury and thus trigger various movements in the paralyzed legs. This stimulation was able to effectively control severe forms of spasticity, and rudimentary voluntary movements were possible even with severe injuries.

Prof. Dr. Leopold SALTUARI (IT)
Born in Bolzano, he studied medicine in Innsbruck, then neurology in Pavia and finally specialized in physiotherapy and rehabilitation in Milan. In December 2019, he became Emeritus Professor and Head of the Department of Neurology and Acute Neurorehabilitation at Hochzirl-Natters Hospital (Kliniken Tirol) and is Scientific Director of the South Tyrolean Research Center for Neurorehabilitation.