The guiding lines for the orthopaedic care of poliomyelitis are, with our present knowledge of the subject, fairly uniform and are closely followed in the Scandinavian countries, where the poliomyelitis morbidity is high and constantly growing. Valuable contributions have been rendered by Haglund 1913, Silfverskiold 1930, Severin 1944, Jonsson 1944, von Rosen 1949, Alvik 1953, and Magnusson 1954 It has become increasingly clear that continuous orthopaedic treatment is an essential part of the management of paralytic polio patients, and it is also clear that the orthopaedic action should be taken at the start of the illness and not at a later stage when serious contractures and deformities have had time to develop.Arrangements for orthopaedic consultation have been made in Stockholm, so that all the paralytic patients from the 1953 epidemic have been kept under constant supervision and treatment. This orthopaedic work has been intimately coordinated with that of the epidemiologists. During 1953 there were 968 cases of poliomyelitis, among which 633 with paralysis of varying severity. All patients were nursed at the Stockholm Hospital for Infectious Diseases, and the orthopaedic treatment was conducted on uniform lines. We have an observation period of 16 months. Our aim is to attempt to render a report of the development of the paralysis after this time. It is difficult to indicate the regression of paralysis in every particular case. We decided instead to record the dates of discharge and return to work despite paralytic symptoms and the number of cases for whom permanent braces or wheel chairs were prescribed.
TreatmentAs long as symptoms of irritation from the central nervous system are present, no other treatment is administered than suitable positioning of the patient. By suitable positioning is meant the prevention of faulty postures and the attainment of the optimum resting position for the paralytic muscles through the use of splints and other appliances. Such appliances have been described by Sezierin and 126
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.