Segmental Treatment Techniques for addressing clients with (GBS) Guillian-Barré Syndrome

Therapists will be introduced to treatment techniques that have been utilized with success to help with client symptoms from admission to hospital discharge. Full body treatment techniques and topics geared toward client comfort will be demonstrated and discussed. Additional relevant treatment topics to be addressed include: Treatment for Constipation, TMJ, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and Bells Palsy. Therapist posture and body mechanics will be demonstrated and practiced along with client positioning for structure accessibility and comfort. Therapist will focus on minimizing stress on their bodies while implementing techniques such as (DAP) Dynamic Angu lar Petrissage, Joint mobilization, and Myofascial techniques, to augment the treatment. Infection control for both client and therapist will be discussed.

Guillain-Barre Syndrome first documented in 1916 is the most common cause of acute paralysis in North America and Europe being diagnosed 80-120 times per week in Canada and the United States (Werner, Ruth, p.262). It is a neurological disorder in which macrophages of the body’s own defense system strips myelin from axons in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) (Tortorra and Derrikson p.434). It may result from the immune system’s response to food-borne bacteria (Campylobacter jejuni 40% of cases), viral infections (ei Epstein-Barr), surgery, or the swine flu vaccination (very rare less than 1 out of 1 million vaccinated) (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2009). Also called acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, GBS is characterized by a quick and severe onset usually developing into a medical emergency as numbness and tingling in the extremities progresses from the feet up to flaccid paralysis bilaterally. It may advance to the loss of function in the respiratory muscles with approximately 30% of its victims re quiring ventilatory assistance(Ashbury, A.K., 2001). Postural hypotension, arrhythmias, facial flushing, sweating and urinary retention is common…

For information on GBS: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/gbs/detail_gbs.htm