4.5 year follow-up after surgical correction of upper extremity deformities in spastic cerebral palsy

Reconstructive surgery was carried out on 27 upper extremities in 24 childr en with deformities due to spastic cerebral palsy. Functional evaluation of the affected extremities was made preoperatively, at 6 months and at a mea n of 4.5 years postoperatively using a score added to the assessment system described by the Committee on Spastic Hand Evaluation. According to the sc ore, dysfunction of the arm was significantly reduced 6 months after the re constructive surgery and the improvements remained essentially unchanged at the later follow-up. The addition of a score to the original assessment sy stem facilitated the overall assessment of postoperative results.