Spasticity in under 19s: management

Introduction

This guideline covers the management of spasticity and co-existing motor disorders and their early musculoskeletal complications in children and young people (from birth up to their 19th birthday) with non-progressive brain disorders.

Cerebral palsy is the most common condition associated with spasticity in children and young people. The incidence of cerebral palsy is not known, but its prevalence in the UK is 186 per 100,000 population, with a total of 110,000 people affected. The guideline covers the management of spasticity associated with cerebral palsy, but not all aspects of the management of cerebral palsy.

The impact of spasticity and co-existing motor disorders and their early musculoskeletal complications on the child or young person varies. Common problems include impaired motor function affecting the person's ability to participate in society, pain from muscle spasms, motor developmental delay and difficulties with daily care due to the onset of secondary complications of spasticity. Management should be tailored to meet the problems faced by the individual child or young person and their individual goals.

There is considerable variation in practice in managing spasticity, including variation in the availability of treatments and the intensity of their use. This guideline will help healthcare professionals to select and use appropriate treatments for individual children and young people.

The guideline will assume that prescribers will use a drug's summary of product characteristics (SPC) to inform decisions made with individual patients.

This guideline recommends some drugs for indications for which they do not have a UK marketing authorisation at the date of publication, if there is good evidence to support that use. Where recommendations have been made for the use of drugs outside their licensed indications ('off-label use'), these drugs are marked with a footnote in the recommendations.