Rehabilitation

To help ensure that we are providing the highest level of quality care and treatment, we measure and report our patients' outcomes. Please click on the link below to view our data.

2021 Patient Outcomes

For further information or to schedule an appointment call (313) 745-KIDS or toll-free at (888) 362-2500.

Services and Innovations

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) staff work with many departments within the hospital to generate a rehabilitation plan for our patients. Available services include:

• Augmentative communication
• Intrathecal Baclofen intervention
• Nutrition programs
• Occupational therapy
• Physical therapy
• Prosthetics/orthotics
• Social work
• Speech pathology

Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit:

Physicians provide inpatient consultations, and the PM&R Division runs the inpatient rehabilitation unit, a 14-bed Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), demonstrating dedication to accountability and compliance with internationally accepted standards of excellence in pediatric rehabilitation . The Division works closely with an interprofessional team including physical, occupational, and recreation therapists, speech and language pathologists, rehabilitation nurses, orthotists, prosthetists, psychologists and neuropsychologists, care managers, social workers, and dietitians, and pharmacists to provide comprehensive patient care. They also collaborate with cardiovascular surgery, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, genetics, hematology, oncology, trauma, and pediatrics on a regular basis.

The physicians on staff provide evaluations and continuity of care to patients in the outpatient clinic setting including:

Myelomeningocele/Spinal cord injury clinic:

The Myelomeningocele Care Center at the Children's Hospital of Michigan DMC is the only program of its kind in Metropolitan Detroit. It has provided multidisciplinary care to children with spina bifida, spinal cord birth defects, spinal cord injuries, spinal cord tumors and infections for more than 30 years. The center offers a one-stop medical care solution for children with multiple neurosurgical, urologic, orthopedic and rehabilitative health-related issues.

Additional clinic support services include nutrition, wound, ostomy, continence nursing, psychology, physical therapy, occupational therapy and social work as well as orthotic and equipment needs. Myelomeningocele Care Center staff take a family-centered care approach to treatment, because family has the greatest influence on child health and development. A family-centered discussion of the child takes place during annual multidisciplinary evaluations.

Muscular Dystrophy Clinic:

The Division works in conjunction with the Neurology Department at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan which is nationally known for research, diagnosis and treatment of muscular diseases in children including muscular dystrophy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and spinal muscular atrophy. Patients have access to innovative treatments and medications through clinical trials. Working in conjunction with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Children’s Hospital of Michigan offers a multidisciplinary muscular dystrophy clinic in Detroit. Team members include a PM&R physician, neurologist, pulmonologist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, respiratory therapist, social worker, orthotist and equipment vendor.

Intrathecal Baclofen Pump Program:

The Division works with the Neurosurgery group in the placement and management of intrathecal baclofen ( ITB) pump for treatment of severe spasticity. The Children’s Hospital of Michigan has the largest pediatric pump population in Metro Detroit. Patients have a pump trial done to see if they are a candidate for the ITB pump. If they are, they are sent to Neurosurgery for evaluation and subsequent pump placement. They are then either admitted for inpatient rehabilitation following placement for aggressive pump management or return for frequent visits to maximize the pump's ability to control the spasticity.

Alcohol Block Clinic:

The Alcohol Block Clinic is a clinic specifically designed as an adjunct way to treat spasticity. It is believed to be the only one in the Metro Detroit area where patients are placed under anesthesia to obtain spasticity control of the obturator nerve. In conjunction, botox injections can also be performed in smaller muscle groups at the same time under anesthesia- thus eliminating the trauma to the child of receiving additional injections while awake.