PERCs New Procedure

In the past 30 years there have been great advances in both preventing and treating cerebral palsy. Yet the number of babies born with the disease remains about the same.
A novel procedure pioneered on the East Coast that is now being done by one doctor in the Houston area. It’s called PERCs, and it offers new hope for children with cerebral palsy.
Cruz Martinez was born premature and with cerebral palsy. He knows what it is to struggle.
Growing up, determination served him well.

“I just never had the attitude he was different,” his mother Michelle Martinez said.
At 16, Cruz’s room reflects his passion for music. It doesn’t show how difficult going to a concert could be. “I would have to stop for at least a minute or two to catch my breath or take a time out to let my legs rest, and I hate doing that,” Cruz said. “That was one of the things that worried us the most, I think, was him falling so much,” his mom said.

The Martinez family opted for a new surgery.

At the University of Texas medical Branch in Galveston, Dr. David Yngve carefully makes tiny incisions along Cruz’s leg in order to nick the tendons where they blend into muscles that are too tight. “Their spasticity can be less by loosening up some of the tightness,” Dr. Yngve said. “They can stretch out their legs more and walk more quickly and easily.”
The hope is to give cerebral palsy patients more movement and more independence. The procedure only takes about an hour, and surgeons believe the benefits will last a lifetime. Two months after surgery, Cruz’s walk may not be perfect, but he now moves 60 percent faster.