Surgical Support of the Developmentally Delayed or Neurologically Impaired Child

Abstract

Children with underlying neurologic conditions or developmental delay may have undergone prior surgical therapy to improve quality of life. These patients may present to the emergency room with complications associated with these procedures or present requiring emergent or urgent surgical management of a new diagnosis. An understanding of the anatomic variation and known long-term complications of these devices is important for any surgeon who may be called to care for these patients. The goal of this article was to provide recommendations that will assist the general surgeon in the surgical management of children with neurologic impairment or developmental delay.

Keywords: Developmental delay; Long-term management; Neurologically impaired; Shared decision-making.