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Pediatrics provides specialized medical care for infants, children, and adolescents. Learn about routine screenings, vaccinations, and treatments.
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Diagnosing cerebral palsy takes several steps and usually starts with watching how a child grows and develops. There is no blood test to confirm it. Doctors look for patterns of delayed movement and unusual muscle tone. During regular check-ups, they use screening tools to check if children are meeting milestones. If a child is not sitting, rolling, or walking on time, or uses one hand much more than the other before age one, more tests are done. At Liv Hospital, we use specialized screening tests to detect early signs as soon as possible.
A full neurological exam is a key part of diagnosing cerebral palsy. The doctor checks the child’s reflexes, muscle tone, and posture.
The doctor will test deep tendon reflexes. In this condition, these reflexes are often hyperactive (hyperreflexia). They also check for the persistence of primitive reflexes. For example, the asymmetric tonic neck reflex (fencing reflex) usually disappears by 6 months; its persistence is a clinical sign of neurological dysfunction.
During the exam, the doctor checks if the muscles are too stiff or too floppy by moving the child’s arms and legs. They look for signs like the ‘clasp-knife’ response, where a limb is hard to move and then suddenly relaxes. The doctor also tests muscle strength and coordination to see which areas are affected.
Neuroimaging provides visual confirmation of brain injury and helps determine the timing and cause.
Some genetic and metabolic disorders can look like cerebral palsy, so doctors need to rule these out as part of the diagnosis.
For children who have a history of seizure-like activity or staring spells, an EEG is performed. This test records electrical activity in the brain using small scalp sensors. It helps diagnose epilepsy, which is a frequent comorbidity. The EEG can show specific patterns of brain waves that indicate the risk of seizures and guide the selection of anticonvulsant medication. Even in the absence of obvious seizures, an EEG can provide information about the brain’s background function.
For children who can walk, computerized gait analysis is a sophisticated evaluation tool. It takes place in a specialized motion analysis laboratory.
This detailed data helps orthopedic surgeons and therapists plan surgeries or brace prescriptions with high precision, targeting the specific biomechanical issues.
Usually, more than one doctor is involved in the evaluation. A team of specialists works together to look at all aspects of the child’s health.
A key part of the evaluation is making sure the diagnosis is correct by ruling out other conditions. Some disorders, like muscular dystrophy or spinal muscular atrophy, get worse over time, but cerebral palsy does not. Doctors also check for tumors or spinal cord injuries. Getting the right diagnosis is important because it guides long-term care. This careful process helps families get the right information and support.
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In the vast majority of cases, an MRI will show abnormalities. However, a small percentage of individuals may have a normal-appearing MRI despite having clinical symptoms of the disorder.
Genetic testing is becoming more standard, especially if the cause of the brain injury is not apparent from the history (like birth trauma) or MRI, to rule out other genetic mimics.
Gait analysis provides objective data on how a child walks. This helps doctors make precise decisions about surgery or braces to improve walking efficiency and prevent pain.
While signs appear early, a definitive diagnosis is often confirmed between 18 and 24 months when motor delays become distinct and permanent, though severe cases are diagnosed sooner.
No, evaluation is ongoing. As the child grows, regular assessments of hips, spine, vision, and motor function are needed to adjust treatments and catch complications early.
Every year, over 5 million children have surgery in the United States. As a parent, worrying about your child’s pain is normal. Some surgeries can
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