Orthotic devices used to stretch spastic muscles to try to improve positioning and prevent contractures. Originally designed by an orthopaedic surgeon, W.M. Phelps, strong long-term braces with locking joints are used to control movements and teach standing and walking. Used by physiotherapists, braces allow limbs to be maintained in more normal positions. A cast is a temporary brace, so that a limb can be stretched out gradually with a series of casts. Systematic evidence is being collected. A recent kind of ‘inhibiting cast’, for the lower leg and foot, has come from Bobath therapy. See also Compression bracing.
Fuchs A, Doderlein L., [Orthotics and cerebral palsy. Established treatments and trends in orthopaedic devices for patients with cerebral palsy.] Der Orthopade. 2004 Oct;33(10):1173-82. German.
Domagalska M, Szopa A, Czupryna K, Nowotny J, Matyja M. et al., The inhibiting casts used in cerebral palsied children. Ortopedia, traumatologia, rehabilitacja 2006 Jun 30;8(3):291-9.
