CNS Repair in a Girl with a Spinal Cord Injury Which was Caused by a Children Physician and Worsened by an Orthopedic Surgeon

By medical malpractice, the 5.5-years-old Nefeli suffered an incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) at Th10/11 levels. At an age of 9, through 4 years of Coordination Dynamics Therapy (CDT), she re-learned walking, running, jumping and became continent again. At an age of 14, an orthopedic surgeon made the family believe that the walking performance could substantially be improved by a leg operation. Against the strong advice of the Author ‘to avoid the operation’, because such operations in SCI reduce the plasticity, necessary for repair, the parents decided for the operation. Till 6 weeks after the operation, the patient could not move the legs anymore because of extreme flexor spasticity, rigor and cramps. 3.5 months after the operation, including 8 weeks of intensive CDT with the Author, she could move the legs a bit again, but could not walk freely. 6 months after the operation, she became able to walk a bit with orthoses and after 8 months she re-learned to walk a bit without orthoses. Through the operation, the patient lost approximately 2 years of movement-based learning therapy. It will be analyzed in detail that the orthopedic surgeon operated without sufficient knowledge in human repair-neurophysiology, necessary especially in SCI. The operation-induced extreme flexor spasticity made the standing and upright movements impossible. Only the Author was able, through administering CDT, to slowly reduce the extreme flexor spasticity and to make the SCI patient Nefeli walk again.