Pediatric and Young Adult Rehabilitation Medicine

The program provides inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation medicine services at the Alberta Children’s Hospital (ACH) to pediatric populations, including children with neurological disorders such as brain injury, cerebral palsy, myelomeningocele/spinal cord injury, neuromuscular conditions, and other neurodevelopmental disorders as well as musculoskeletal disorders such as limb deficiency and arthrogryposis.

The program is also responsible for the Young Adult Rehabilitation Clinics, outpatient clinics located at the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre and Foothills Medical Centre, which are dedicated to adult patients with child-onset neurological and musculoskeletal conditions. These clinics provide comprehensive rehabilitation medicine management and assist patients transitioning from pediatric care to the adult world.

Clinical Care Updates

The Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine inpatient consultation service assessed and treated 46 children, many within the context of the ACH interdisciplinary neuro-rehabilitation team, while admitted to hospital.  An additional 20 patients were followed during admission to the ACH Dr. Gordon Townsend School (GTS) Intensive Rehabilitation and Education Program for ongoing management of medical and rehabilitation issues.  The program also provided 1,163 pediatric outpatient consultation and follow-up appointments, including 895 direct patient appointments and 268 virtual patient appointments, through various ACH Physiatry clinics.  A further 435 outpatient appointments, including 291 direct patient appointments and 144 virtual patient appointments, were attended by adult patients through the Young Adult Rehabilitation Clinic.  The program continued as a primary contributor to the interdisciplinary ACH Spasticity Assessment Program (SAP), which provides comprehensive assessment and management recommendations to children with complex hypertonicity issues. The SAP assessed five children for possible neurosurgical tone management with intrathecal baclofen via pump implant or selective dorsal rhizotomy.  Instrumented gait analysis, collaborative with Orthopedic Surgery, Physiotherapy and Orthotics, for recommendation of therapeutic interventions continued through the C.H. Riddell Movement Assessment Centre at the ACH with 27 patients undergoing evaluation.

Education

Program educational pursuits were related to post-graduate medical education as well as research training. The program had six post-graduate medical trainees, including PM&R, Developmental Pediatrics and Pediatric Neurology residents, on service for 12 of 13 academic blocks. Dr. Condliffe provided academic supervision and research mentorship for one post-doctoral fellow, one allied health clinician, two Master of Science students and four undergraduate students. Dr. Condliffe also served as a committee member, examiner or neutral chair for five additional graduate students. Dr. Gnanakumar is the Physician Lead for PM&R medical student clinical electives. Dr. Burkholder is a member of the Pediatric Neurology Residency Training Committee.

Research

Dr. Condliffe was collaborating on or leading 17 research projects, including four registered clinical trials. In addition, Dr. Condliffe presented the results of children with cerebral palsy attending a summer camp focused on providing exposure to adapted sports programs at the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine Annual Meeting and the N3 Day at the University of Calgary on using transcranial magnetic stimulation with regards to neuroplasticity in the cerebral palsy population.

Dr. Gnanakumar is the Calgary Site Lead for a clinical study focused on optimizing the management of pain and irritability in children with severe neurological impairments. Dr. Burkholder is a Calgary Site Co-lead for the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Registry.

Members

Dr. Lee Burkholder, Dr. Elizabeth Condliffe, Dr. Vithya Gnanakumar, Dr. Janet Tapper