New research underscores years of positive clinical results
When it comes to orthotic management of pediatric patients with hypotonia, the medical literature is only beginning to document the effectiveness that clinicians have been reporting anecdotally for years.

By Cary Groner

Each child in this case series was assessed every other week for 16 weeks to determine mastery of items 23, 26-28, 30-39, and 41 (ranging from “pull to stand” to “walk fast”) on the Peabody Developmental Motor Scale. Test instructions were modified as needed for children to understand them. Parents were included in each session and encouraged to play with the child in order to demonstrate the targeted skills. Graphs illustrate age of mastery for each item number for the hypotonic child compared to a “typical” child, with linear trend lines illustrating rate of change, and demonstrate the improved mastery of skills after prescription of supramalleolar orthoses (SMOs). The cases will be presented in September at the O&P World Congress in Orlando, FL.

By Megan Smith, CO