Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy or a Baclofen Pump for Spasticity: How Do the Approaches Differ?

The physiotherapy gym has gone quiet, and a parent is sitting on the low bench with two printed information sheets on her lap. One describes a spinal operation that cannot be undone. The other describes a small metal disc that would live under her son’s skin for the rest of his life, humming quietly and needing refills like a car needs fuel. Both, she has been told, treat the same problem: legs so tight that every step costs more effort than it should.

Families weighing sdr vs baclofen pump options tend to arrive at this bench with the same knot of questions. Which one is bigger? Which one is safer? Which one is more likely to help with walking, sitting, sleeping, or simply getting dressed without a struggle? And the quiet question underneath all of it: what happens if we choose wrong?

The honest answer is that these two treatments are not rivals so much as tools built for different jobs. Understanding what each one actually does to the nervous system, and what it asks of the person afterward, is the best way to make the decision feel less like a coin toss.

What is spasticity, and why do two such different treatments exist for it?

Spasticity is a velocity-dependent increase in muscle tone: the faster a joint is moved, the harder the muscle resists. It happens when the brain or spinal cord is injured and can no longer damp down the reflex loops that run between muscle and spinal cord. In cerebral palsy, the most common cause in children, that injury occurred in the developing brain before, during or shortly after birth. In adults it can follow stroke, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis or traumatic brain injury, according to MedlinePlus.

Left unmanaged, stiff muscles do more than make movement effortful. They pull joints into fixed positions, shorten tendons, disturb sleep, and make hygiene and positioning harder for carers. That is why treatment tends to follow a ladder, from stretching and orthotics through oral muscle relaxants and botulinum toxin injections, up to the two surgical options this article compares.

Why two? Because spasticity itself lives in two places. There is the reflex arc in the spinal cord, where sensory signals from the muscle spindle race in and motor commands race out with too little brake. And there is the chemistry of that arc, which depends on an inhibitory transmitter called GABA that is in short supply after brain injury.

SDR targets the wiring. It physically cuts a portion of the sensory rootlets that feed the overactive loop. A baclofen pump targets the chemistry. Baclofen mimics GABA and, when delivered directly into the fluid around the spinal cord, quietens the loop without needing to reach the brain in large amounts. Same symptom, two different points of attack. Almost every other difference between them flows from that fact.

SDR vs baclofen pump: the single difference that drives every other one

If you remember only one thing from a clinic appointment about sdr vs baclofen pump treatment, make it this: one is permanent and the other is adjustable.

Selective dorsal rhizotomy is a structural change. Once the chosen sensory rootlets have been divided, they do not grow back. The spasticity reduction is present when the person wakes from anaesthesia and it stays. There is no dial to turn, which is both its appeal and its risk. A well-selected rootlet pattern gives lasting relief with nothing left inside the body; an over-aggressive one can leave muscles weaker than the person needs for the function they had.

Intrathecal baclofen therapy is a pharmacological change that can be tuned. The dose can be raised if tone creeps up over the years, lowered if the person becomes floppy, and stopped altogether if the therapy is not helping. The trade is ongoing commitment: the reservoir needs refilling by a clinician at regular intervals, the battery has a finite lifespan, and the device is a piece of hardware sitting under the skin with a thin tube running into the spine.

This explains the general pattern in which specialist teams deploy them, as described in NHS and Johns Hopkins patient guidance. SDR is typically considered when the goal is to improve or preserve walking in someone with spasticity mainly in the legs and enough underlying strength to use their new freedom of movement. A pump is more often considered when spasticity is severe, widespread, or affecting arms as well as legs, or when the goals centre on comfort, positioning and care rather than independent walking.

Neither is “stronger”. They answer different questions.

How selective dorsal rhizotomy actually works, step by step

The name is a mouthful, so take it in pieces. “Dorsal” refers to the back, or sensory, portion of the spinal nerve roots. “Rhizotomy” simply means cutting a root. “Selective” is the crucial word: the surgeon does not cut whole roots but tests tiny bundles within them and divides only those judged to be driving abnormal reflexes.

Under general anaesthesia, the person lies face down. The neurosurgeon opens a small window in the bone at the lower spine, usually over one or two vertebrae, to reach the sensory roots that supply the legs. Each root is separated into rootlets, sometimes several dozen in total. A neurophysiologist then stimulates each rootlet electrically and records how the leg muscles respond. Rootlets that produce a normal, contained response are spared. Those that trigger a spreading, sustained contraction are cut. Motor roots, which carry commands out to the muscles, are left untouched.

The operation typically takes a few hours. Afterward the person is nursed flat for a period to protect the spinal fluid seal, and pain and muscle spasm are managed by the anaesthetic and ward teams. Hospital stays are usually measured in days rather than weeks, according to NHS descriptions of the procedure, though this varies with age and how quickly mobility is regained.

The immediate effect is striking: the legs feel loose, sometimes unnervingly so. That looseness reveals the true underlying strength that spasticity was masking, and it is frequently less than families expect. This is why SDR is never a stand-alone operation. The months of physiotherapy that follow are not optional recovery; they are the treatment. The surgery removes a brake. Rehabilitation teaches the person to use the engine.

How a baclofen pump actually works, and why it goes into the spine

Baclofen is a muscle relaxant that has been taken by mouth for decades. Its limitation is the blood-brain barrier: only a small fraction of a swallowed dose reaches the spinal cord, so people with severe spasticity often become drowsy or weak before their legs get much relief.

Intrathecal baclofen therapy sidesteps that problem. “Intrathecal” means inside the sheath of fluid that surrounds the spinal cord. A pump the size of a hockey puck is implanted under the skin of the abdomen, and a soft catheter is tunnelled around the flank and threaded into the spinal fluid. The pump releases medicine continuously, in tiny amounts, directly where it acts. Because it does not need to cross into the brain from the bloodstream, far less medicine is required and whole-body side effects are generally reduced, as Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic patient information explain.

Before anyone commits to the implant, most centres carry out a screening trial. A single test injection is given into the spinal fluid by lumbar puncture, and the team measures tone, spasm frequency and comfort over the following hours. The trial does not predict everything, but it does show whether the medicine reaches the right place and whether reduced tone actually helps the person function or be cared for.

Once the pump is in, a clinician programs it wirelessly through the skin. Rate adjustments happen in clinic over the following weeks as the team finds the level that softens tone without stealing useful strength. Refills are done by needle through a port in the pump, at intervals set by the reservoir size and the rate used. Decisions about all of these settings sit with the prescribing team, not with the family or the device.

Who is usually offered SDR surgery for cerebral palsy, and who is asked to wait?

Selection matters more for SDR than for almost any other spasticity procedure, because the result cannot be revised. Specialist teams therefore spend a great deal of time deciding who is likely to benefit.

The person most often considered has spastic diplegia, meaning spasticity mainly in both legs with relatively spared arms, usually from cerebral palsy. They can already walk, with or without aids, and the aim is to make that walking easier and more efficient. In the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), which grades mobility from level I (walks freely) to level V (needs full support for sitting), candidates commonly sit at levels II or III, according to NHS commissioning guidance. Reasonable underlying leg strength, good trunk control, no significant dystonia, and the motivation and family support to complete a long rehabilitation programme all weigh in favour.

Age is discussed carefully. Many programmes have historically favoured the early school years, before fixed joint contractures and bony changes develop, though the procedure is also performed in older children and some adults, and the evidence base for those groups is thinner.

Who is generally asked to wait, or steered elsewhere? Children whose movement problem is predominantly dystonia rather than spasticity, since cutting sensory rootlets does not treat dystonia and may unmask it. Those with severe weakness, where spasticity is actually helping them stand. Those with significant fixed contractures that would need orthopaedic surgery regardless. And anyone for whom intensive daily physiotherapy for many months is not realistic. In those situations, a pump, targeted injections or orthopaedic surgery may serve the same goals with less risk. The final judgement rests with a multidisciplinary team that has examined the person in motion, not with any general rule.

Who is a good baclofen pump candidate, and why would someone be on one?

People ask why anyone would agree to a permanent implant when oral tablets exist. The answer is nearly always the same: the tablets stopped working, or the side effects arrived before the benefit did.

A typical baclofen pump candidate has severe spasticity that has not responded adequately to stretching, oral medicines and injections, and that is interfering with something important: sleep broken by night spasms, pain, difficulty sitting in a wheelchair, skin breakdown from fixed postures, or the sheer physical struggle of dressing and hygiene for the person and their carers. The spasticity is often generalised, affecting the trunk and arms as well as legs, or it stems from spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis or acquired brain injury rather than cerebral palsy alone. In GMFCS terms, children considered for pumps are frequently at levels IV or V, though this is a tendency rather than a rule, as Johns Hopkins patient material notes.

Crucially, the goal need not be walking. Comfort, easier care, better positioning and reduced pain are legitimate and common reasons to consider intrathecal therapy. A positive screening trial, meaning a clear and useful drop in tone after a test injection, is usually required before implantation.

Factors that weigh against a pump include very small body size where the device would sit uncomfortably, active infection, an inability to attend regular refill appointments, and situations where spasticity is actually being used for function, such as locking the knees to stand for transfers. Someone with mild, leg-only spasticity who walks well is rarely offered a pump first; the maintenance burden would outweigh the gain. As with SDR, this is a judgement for a specialist team who know the person’s daily life, not a checklist.

SDR vs baclofen pump at a glance: a side-by-side comparison

Tables cannot capture the texture of a decision, but they help families see where the two approaches genuinely diverge and where they overlap. The rows below summarise mainstream descriptions from the NHS, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hopkins.

Feature	Selective dorsal rhizotomy	Intrathecal baclofen pump
What it changes	Cuts a selected portion of sensory nerve rootlets in the lower spine	Delivers a GABA-mimicking medicine continuously into spinal fluid
Reversible?	No; the effect is permanent	Yes; dose can be changed or the device removed
Hardware left in the body	None	Pump under abdominal skin plus catheter to the spine
Region treated	Mainly the legs	Legs, trunk and, to a lesser degree, arms
Typical goal	Improve or preserve walking efficiency	Reduce severe tone for comfort, care, positioning; sometimes function
Typical candidate	Spastic diplegia, able to walk (often GMFCS II–III), good strength	Severe or generalised spasticity, any cause (often GMFCS IV–V)
Pre-treatment test	Gait analysis and multidisciplinary assessment	Screening injection trial plus assessment
Follow-up commitment	Intensive physiotherapy for many months, then routine review	Lifelong refills, programming visits and eventual pump replacement
Main risks	Weakness, sensory change, spinal fluid leak, later spinal changes	Infection, catheter problems, over- or under-dosing, withdrawal
Effect on dystonia	Not treated; may become more visible	May help mixed tone in some people

Two rows deserve a second look. The “reversible” row explains why a pump is sometimes chosen when the team is uncertain how the person will cope with less tone. The “follow-up” row explains why SDR is sometimes chosen for a family who would find decades of device appointments and alarm vigilance unmanageable. Neither row alone settles the question, which is exactly why the conversation with the treating team matters.

What the first days, weeks and months after SDR usually look like

The first sensation many people report after selective dorsal rhizotomy is the strangeness of legs that no longer fight back. The second is that those legs feel heavy and uncooperative. Both are expected.

In the first few days, the focus is on pain control, protecting the surgical site and preventing a spinal fluid leak, which is why a period of lying flat is common. Muscle spasms and altered skin sensation in the legs, sometimes described as tingling or hypersensitivity to bedsheets, can occur in this window and usually settle. Bladder function is monitored, since the sensory roots being tested lie near those serving the bladder. Physiotherapists begin gentle work within days, often starting with positioning and passive range of motion before sitting and standing.

Hospital discharge is typically within a week or so, according to NHS descriptions, though children with more complex needs may stay longer or move to an inpatient rehabilitation unit.

The months that follow are the real work. NHS guidance describes intensive physiotherapy continuing for many months after SDR, initially several sessions a week, gradually tapering as strength returns. Gains in walking pattern and efficiency tend to emerge gradually across the first year rather than immediately, because the person is learning to control muscles that were previously held in a permanent clench. Orthotics are often reviewed and refitted as alignment changes.

Families should expect plateaus and occasional setbacks. Growth spurts, illness and school terms all interrupt training. Long-term follow-up usually includes periodic spinal imaging and gait review, since the operation alters the lower spine and the person’s biomechanics. None of these timelines are promises; they are the typical shape of the road as described in mainstream clinical sources.

Living with a pump: refills, programming, alarms and what you cannot do

A baclofen pump changes daily life less dramatically than SDR in the first month, and more persistently over the years. The surgery to implant it is comparatively short, and most people leave hospital within a few days once the initial rate has been set and the incisions are healing. Tone often eases within hours of the pump starting, then the team fine-tunes over following clinic visits.

Refills are the rhythm of pump life. A clinician locates the port through the skin, withdraws any remaining medicine and injects a fresh supply. How often depends on the rate and reservoir, and the team will set the schedule. Missing a refill is not a minor inconvenience; an empty reservoir can trigger withdrawal, which is discussed in the risks section below. Most pumps sound an alarm when the reservoir is low or the battery is nearing its end, and the battery itself has a finite life, after which the pump is surgically replaced.

What can you not do with a baclofen pump? The list is shorter than people fear but real. Deep-sea diving and hyperbaric chambers are generally avoided because pressure can affect pump function. Strong magnetic fields matter: MRI scans are usually possible but require the pump to be checked and often re-verified afterward, so the pump team must know in advance. Contact sports that risk a direct blow to the abdomen carry a chance of damaging the device or catheter. Some medical procedures, including certain types of diathermy, are avoided near the pump. Travel is fine with planning, but refill dates and a copy of the device details should go with you, and long trips need refill timing thought through beforehand.

None of these are reasons to reject a pump. They are the housekeeping that comes with it.

Baclofen pump side effects, SDR complications and how the risk profiles differ

Both procedures are established and performed in specialist centres, and both carry risks that families deserve to hear in plain terms.

With SDR, the most talked-about risk is weakness. Because spasticity was providing a kind of scaffolding, removing it can leave legs that struggle to support weight until strength is rebuilt, and in some people a degree of weakness persists. Altered sensation in the legs or feet is common early and usually improves. Bladder or bowel disturbance can occur, typically temporary. Spinal fluid leak and wound infection are surgical risks in the first weeks. In the longer term, opening the lower spine raises questions about later spinal curvature or instability, which is why follow-up imaging is standard. Hip and foot alignment may also change as muscle pull changes, sometimes requiring orthopaedic input.

With a pump, the risks fall into two groups. Hardware problems include infection around the device, catheter kinking, disconnection or migration, and spinal fluid leak; any of these can require further surgery. Medicine problems run in two directions. Too much causes drowsiness, weakness, low blood pressure, nausea and, at the extreme, slowed breathing. Too little, or an abrupt interruption from an empty reservoir or a failed catheter, can cause baclofen withdrawal: a rebound of severe spasticity, fever, itching, confusion and, if untreated, a medical emergency. The Cleveland Clinic and MedlinePlus both stress that intrathecal baclofen should never be stopped suddenly.

The contrast is instructive. SDR concentrates its risk in a single episode and its aftermath; a pump spreads a smaller but persistent risk across years. Some families find the first framing more frightening, others the second. Neither instinct is wrong, and the treating team can put local complication experience alongside these general descriptions.

Is a baclofen pump worth it? What the evidence actually shows for both approaches

“Worth it” is a personal calculation, but the evidence can at least frame it honestly.

For intrathecal baclofen, decades of clinical use and trials show that it reliably reduces measured muscle tone and spasm frequency in people with severe spasticity from cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis, and that many report improved comfort, sleep and ease of care. Evidence that it improves independent walking is weaker, partly because most recipients were not walking beforehand. Health technology assessments, including guidance summarised by the NHS, generally support pumps for people whose spasticity is severe and has not responded to less invasive options, with the caveat that the benefits must be weighed against the maintenance burden and complication rate.

For SDR, follow-up studies stretching more than two decades report sustained reductions in spasticity and, in appropriately selected children, improvements in gait quality and gross motor function that persist into adulthood. The NHS notes that evidence on long-term functional gains is encouraging but limited by small numbers and the absence of large randomised comparisons with alternative treatments, which is why in some health systems SDR remains available only through specialised commissioning or research programmes.

What neither body of evidence shows is that one approach beats the other head to head. They have rarely been compared directly because they are offered to different populations. That is a genuine gap, not a hidden verdict.

A fair summary: a pump is likely to be worth it when severe, generalised tone is causing pain, poor sleep or care difficulty and other options have failed. SDR is likely to be worth it when a child with spastic diplegia has the strength, support and motivation to turn reduced tone into better walking. The person best placed to say which description fits is the multidisciplinary team examining the individual.

What people often get wrong about SDR and baclofen pumps

Some misunderstandings surface so often in clinic and in online forums that they are worth addressing directly.

“SDR will make my child walk normally.” SDR reduces spasticity. It does not repair the original brain injury, restore strength or fix balance. Children who were walking with difficulty may walk with less difficulty; children who were not walking are unlikely to start because of the operation alone. Expectations should be set by the pre-operative assessment, not by videos of other people’s children.

“A pump is the easy option.” The implant is a shorter operation, but it commits the person to a lifetime of appointments, vigilance about refills and alarms, and eventual replacement surgeries. Easy at the start, demanding over time.

“Cutting nerves means losing feeling or the ability to move.” SDR divides a selected fraction of sensory rootlets only. Motor roots are preserved. Sensory changes do happen but are usually partial and often temporary.

“If the pump does not work, we can just take it out and everything goes back to normal.” Removal is possible, but the medicine must be weaned under supervision to avoid withdrawal, and the person’s spasticity returns to where it was.

“You have to choose one forever.” Some people who have had SDR later receive injections or a pump for residual or arm spasticity; some pump recipients later have orthopaedic surgery. The ladder does not vanish after one rung.

“Younger is always better.” Early treatment can prevent contractures, but very young children have less mature gait and less capacity for the rehabilitation that SDR demands. Timing is individual.

“Dystonia and spasticity are the same thing.” They are not, and SDR does not treat dystonia. Distinguishing them is one of the most important jobs of the assessment.

Questions to ask your care team before deciding

A good consultation should leave you feeling that the team knows your child or yourself as a person, not as a tone score. These questions tend to draw out the information that matters.

• Which of my (or my child’s) movement problems is spasticity, and which is weakness, dystonia or contracture? How will this treatment affect each one?
• What is the specific functional goal we are aiming for: walking further, sitting comfortably, sleeping through, easier dressing? How will we measure whether we reached it?
• Why are you suggesting this option rather than the other, and rather than staying on the current plan?
• What would the rehabilitation programme after SDR involve week by week, for how many months, and who provides it locally?
• For a pump, how often would refills be needed, where would they happen, and what is the plan if we cannot get to an appointment?
• What happens if the screening trial for the pump is negative, or if the gait assessment suggests SDR is not suitable?
• What complications have you seen in people like us, and how were they managed?
• How will growth, puberty or ageing change the picture over the next ten years?
• If we do nothing surgical for now, what is likely to happen, and when would you want to revisit the decision?
• Can we speak to a family who has been through this, and can we take time to decide?

Write the answers down. A second appointment to ask follow-up questions is a reasonable request, and no established team will object to it. The decision is yours to make with them, at a pace that lets you make it well.

When to call your doctor: red-flag signs after SDR or with a baclofen pump

Most recovery from either procedure is uneventful, but a small number of situations need urgent attention. Knowing them in advance turns panic into a plan.

After selective dorsal rhizotomy, contact the surgical team or seek emergency care for: a headache that is severe or much worse when sitting up, especially with clear fluid leaking from the wound, which may indicate a spinal fluid leak; fever with redness, swelling or discharge at the incision; new difficulty passing urine or loss of bowel control; new or rapidly worsening weakness or numbness in the legs; or pain that is not controlled by the plan you were sent home with.

With a baclofen pump, treat the following as emergencies: a sudden return of severe stiffness or spasms, particularly with fever, itching, sweating, fast heartbeat, confusion or agitation, as these can signal baclofen withdrawal, which the Cleveland Clinic describes as potentially life-threatening if untreated; unusual drowsiness, floppiness, slurred speech, dizziness, vomiting or slow or shallow breathing, which can indicate too much medicine reaching the spinal fluid; redness, warmth, swelling or fluid around the pump or along the catheter path; or any pump alarm you were not expecting.

For anyone with spasticity, treated or not, seek advice for a sudden unexplained increase in tone, since infections, constipation, pressure sores and ingrown nails can all drive spasticity up and are treatable.

Carry the device or surgical information card, and tell every clinician you meet, including dentists and emergency staff, that a pump is in place. The team that implanted the device or performed the surgery is the first call for anything uncertain; emergency services are the right call when breathing, consciousness or high fever is involved.

Frequently asked questions

Is a baclofen pump worth it for severe spasticity?

For many people with severe spasticity that has not responded to stretching, oral medicines or injections, intrathecal baclofen reliably lowers tone and spasm frequency and often improves comfort, sleep and ease of care. Whether that is worth the lifelong refill schedule, device maintenance and complication risk is an individual judgement. A positive screening trial and a clear functional goal agreed with the treating team are the best predictors that the trade-off will feel worthwhile.

Who is a good candidate for a baclofen pump?

A typical candidate has severe, often generalised spasticity from cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis or brain injury that interferes with sleep, comfort, positioning or daily care, and that has not improved enough with less invasive treatments. A positive response to a screening injection is usually required. People with mild leg-only spasticity who walk well, or who cannot attend regular refill appointments, are less often offered a pump first.

Why would someone be on a baclofen pump rather than tablets?

Oral baclofen must cross from the bloodstream into the nervous system, and only a small fraction reaches the spinal cord. People with severe spasticity frequently become drowsy or weak before their muscles relax enough. A pump places the medicine directly into spinal fluid, so a much smaller amount produces a stronger local effect with fewer whole-body side effects. The switch is usually made when tablets have stopped helping or cannot be tolerated.

What can you not do with a baclofen pump?

Scuba diving and hyperbaric treatment are generally avoided because pressure changes can affect the device. MRI scans are usually possible but must be planned with the pump team and the pump checked afterward. Contact sports risking a direct blow to the abdomen may damage the pump or catheter, and certain heat-based medical treatments near the device are avoided. Everyday life, school, work and travel are all compatible with sensible planning around refill dates.

Is SDR surgery for cerebral palsy reversible?

No. Selective dorsal rhizotomy divides a portion of the sensory nerve rootlets that feed overactive reflex loops, and cut rootlets do not regrow. This permanence is why teams invest heavily in pre-operative gait analysis and multidisciplinary assessment before offering the procedure, and why it is generally reserved for people with the strength and support to benefit from lasting tone reduction rather than those whose tone is helping them stand.

Can someone have both SDR and a baclofen pump?

It is uncommon but does happen. A person who had SDR in childhood may later develop troublesome arm or trunk spasticity, or spasticity from a different cause, and be considered for a pump. Less often, a pump may be removed and SDR performed if the team judges that permanent tone reduction now suits the person’s goals. Each step is a fresh decision by the treating team based on current function.

How long is rehabilitation after selective dorsal rhizotomy?

NHS guidance describes intensive physiotherapy continuing for many months after SDR, starting within days of surgery and initially involving several sessions a week before tapering. Improvements in walking pattern typically emerge gradually across the first year as strength and motor control develop. The exact schedule depends on age, starting function and local services, and the treating team will set expectations for the individual rather than to a fixed calendar.

What are the main baclofen pump side effects and risks?

Risks fall into hardware and medicine categories. Hardware problems include infection, catheter kinking or migration and spinal fluid leak, any of which may need further surgery. Too much medicine causes drowsiness, weakness, low blood pressure and, rarely, slowed breathing. Too little, or an abrupt interruption, can trigger withdrawal with rebound spasticity, fever, itching and confusion, which is a medical emergency. Regular refills and prompt attention to alarms reduce these risks.

Does SDR help adults with spasticity, or only children?

Most experience and published follow-up concern children with spastic diplegia from cerebral palsy, and that is where the evidence is strongest. SDR has been performed in adolescents and adults, including some with cerebral palsy who are losing walking ability with age, but the evidence base is smaller and outcomes are less predictable. Adults considering it are usually assessed by the same multidisciplinary process and counselled about the thinner data.

Does a baclofen pump help arm spasticity as well as legs?

Often, though less strongly. Because the medicine is delivered into spinal fluid and spreads upward from the catheter tip, it tends to affect the legs most and the trunk and arms to a lesser degree. Catheter placement higher along the spine is sometimes used when upper limb tone is a priority. SDR, by contrast, targets the lower spinal roots and is not expected to change arm spasticity.

References

• NHS: Cerebral palsy, treatment (including selective dorsal rhizotomy and baclofen)
• Cleveland Clinic: Spasticity
• MedlinePlus: Muscle spasticity
• NIH NINDS: Cerebral Palsy

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.