Care for affected persons?
Patients suffering from tetraspacification can be affected to varying degrees. Those who have to struggle with severe impairment often need nursing support, if not complete care.Nursing care can help in coping with everyday activities when independence is still partially present and, in the case of severely movement-impaired patients, ensures that they are cared for to the best of their ability. Nursing care for people affected by spasticity requires good training and must always be adapted to individual problems and challenges.
Prognosis
Tetraspacification is a chronic condition and therefore not curable. Since the cause is based on damage to the central nervous system, it is not possible to eliminate the disorder. However, the course of tetraspacification can vary greatly from one individual to another.
Depending on the patient, the disease progresses at different speeds. Over time, however, a worsening of the symptoms can be expected, if they have not already reached their maximum. Many patients are tied to a wheelchair during the course of the underlying disease.
With medication and physiotherapy, this deterioration can often be delayed and the quality of life maintained for a relatively long time. The life expectancy of a tetra spastic cannot be determined easily. It depends strongly on the underlying disease.
If the paresis has a traumatic cause (an accident or the like), life expectancy is usually hardly or not at all affected; the patient only has to struggle with his limitation. With other basic diseases this can look differently. Tumors that cause tetraparesis often do not have a good prognosis, but this must be determined individually.
According to a Canadian study, a reduction in life expectancy of about seven years is to be expected in multiple sclerosis; patients reach the age of 77 on average. In general, it can be said that tetra spasticity does not usually lead to death, but rather that the progression of the underlying disease is responsible for it and therefore a statement about life expectancy can only be made in the context of the patient’s medical history. An exception is spasticity of this kind, which has its cause above the fourth cervical vertebra: Since this is where the nerves (C3-5) that supply the diaphragm originate, this often leads to life-threatening respiratory arrest. This is an absolute emergency and leads to death if left untreated.
