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The Department of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine aims to prevent physical impairment and minimize the degree of disability
by early identifying and treating children who go through development disorder caused by congenital and acquired diseases. We treat various childhood disorders such as cerebral palsy, developmental delay, intellectual disability, muscular diseases, spinal diseases, pediatric stroke, traumatic brain injury, gait disturbance, wry neck, and other neurologic and orthopedic problems. Rehabilitation therapy induces normal development of children through physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech & language therapy by considering the degree of disability and functions. Also since the types of required treatment may change as patients grow into school-aged children and adolescents, development stage-based rehabilitation treatment plan and programs will be applied to each child. Aid tools and botulinum toxin (Botox) injection, nerve block, or motor point block are prescribed to prevent secondary musculoskeletal disorders and other complications.
We are doing our best with relevant departments to help one precious life to be born and develop normally to become an independent person in a peer group at the same time in the society.
The Department of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine provides the following treatments and services:
Developmental delay clinic
The clinic investigates the causes of developmental delay in infants and children, evaluates the severity of delay based on international criteria, and performs proper rehabilitation therapy. Since early diagnosis and treatment are very important, we encourage childhood patients to be hospitalized for treatment or educate their parents for home therapy.
Prosthesis, orthosis, and wheelchair clinic
With the aim to prevent and correct musculoskeletal complications that may arise during the development of disabled children with various causes, the clinic is open in the morning of every Tuesday.
Botox injection
Botox injection is a topically applied therapy when patients with gait disturbance caused by muscle rigidity or discomfort in the activities of daily living following injuries to central nervous system such as pediatric stroke, traumatic brain injury, and spinal cord injury. It is injected to adductor muscle of the hip, knee flexion, ankle planter flexor, and elbow flexion, and active rehabilitation treatment will be followed. Plaster cast or aid tools are applied if necessary.
Pediatric rehabilitation therapy
Pediatric physical therapy
NeuroDevelopmental Therapy
This is called neurodevelopmental therapy or bobath therapy that restrains abnormal posture and stimulates normal response. Children who do not develop normally have little experience of normal movement, so that it is required to have them experience normal movement to learn right sensory motor patterns.
Vojta Therapy
This is a therapy to encourage normal movement by stimulating a certain point (trigger point) of the body in a particular posture. Age doesn’t matter, so it is often performed in infants who are under the age of one.
Muscle strengthening exercise
Treatment is performed to improve muscular strength, endurance, and balance in lower limbs of children who show muscle weakness caused by central and peripheral lesions to promote independent walk and correct gait abnormality. Deformation and contracture of muscle are prevented by maintaining and enhancing the motion range of joints. Muscle weakness is improved by applying neuromuscular electrical stimulation.
Balance and Gait Integration Trainings
This is a therapy to develop postural control functions by improving the balancing ability and allow independent gait in the end. Integrated balance and gait functions are improved through various repeated treatment programs such as partial weight bearing treadmill training and diverse sensory stimulations of a sense of position and proprioceptive sense.
Pediatric physical therapy
Occupational Therapy
This therapy aims to improve sensory motor skill, perceptive and cognitive abilities, communication, and sociability and helps children participate in social activities of kindergarten and school by enhancing their ability to play and personal activities of daily living (eating, dressing, washing, etc.). Aid tools for upper limbs can be used if necessary.
Sensory Integration Therapy
This therapy is applied to children who have difficulty in controlling motion or behaviors due to overall sensory integration, for instance feeling sensitive to or obsessed with particular senses. It will help them properly respond to surrounding environment, act properly, and participate in learning.
Dysphagia Therapy
Problems with exercise, cognition, and behavior control or intraoral structure may lead to various eating disorders. Bottle-feeding, eating solid foods, and chewing must be attempted properly according to age and the degree of disability. Moreover, dysphagia therapies including oral stimulation, swallowing exercise, and electrical stimulation are applied. These efforts will improve children’s nutrition status, reduce the frequency of aspiration pneumonia, make eating enjoyable, and increase self-esteem.
Cognitive Therapy
If normal cognitive development does not take place due to developmental delay or brain lesions, it may lead to difficulties in acquiring learning and judgment abilities necessary at each age stage, developing social interaction with others, and adapting to school life due to abnormal behaviors. To solve these problems, computerized programs to evaluate and treat concentration ability, visual perception skill, memory, problem-solving ability, and executive function as well as functional trainings are implemented
Group Activity & Art Therapy (Music and Art)
Children are motivated and feel pleasure through various forms of group activities. Especially motivation is an essential factor to improve their functions, so art therapy, music therapy, and various group activity therapies for daily living and learning according to type of disease and age are provided.
Pediatric Speech & Language Therapy
This therapy is for children with communication disorder, delayed speech development and developmental language disorder, and problems related to language, speech, and swallowing.
Doctors
Departments
Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine, Cardiology, Rehabilitation Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease Prevention & Rehabilitation Center, Asan Medical Center Heart Institute, Lung Cancer center
Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine, Cardiology, Rehabilitation Medicine, Childhood respiratory and allergy, Cardiovascular Disease Prevention & Rehabilitation Center, Gynecologic Cancer center
Specialty
Pediatric Rehabilitation, Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Cardiac Rehabilitation, Cancer of Gynecology Rehabilitation