The term describes patients who are locked inside their bodies with complete muscle impairment. Although patients with this syndrome are conscious, they suffer from quadriplegia and paralysis of all voluntary movements except eye movement(2). The most common cause of locked-in syndrome is stroke which damages the pons, a part of the brainstem that contain neuronal pathways between the cerebrum, spinal cord, and cerebellum. Moreover, there are less frequent causes that affect the pons such as hemorrhages, thrombosis, traumas, and tumors(2). Finally, treatment of locked-in syndrome depends on the main cause of the disorder. For example, thrombosis is treated with thrombolytic therapy while tumors are treated with steroids or radiation. Unlike the treatment, rehabilitation does not depend on the cause and should be started as early as
The term describes patients who are locked inside their bodies with complete muscle impairment. Although patients with this syndrome are conscious, they suffer from quadriplegia and paralysis of all voluntary movements except eye movement(2). The most common cause of locked-in syndrome is stroke which damages the pons, a part of the brainstem that contain neuronal pathways between the cerebrum, spinal cord, and cerebellum. Moreover, there are less frequent causes that affect the pons such as hemorrhages, thrombosis, traumas, and tumors(2). Finally, treatment of locked-in syndrome depends on the main cause of the disorder. For example, thrombosis is treated with thrombolytic therapy while tumors are treated with steroids or radiation. Unlike the treatment, rehabilitation does not depend on the cause and should be started as early as