Complex Congenital Heart Disease: Efficacy of Episodic Physical Therapy after Discharge from a Cardiac NICU

This course identifies select complex congenital heart defects, surgical treatment options, inpatient developmental care, and an outpatient physical therapy follow-up program offered at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital upon discharge. Our Children’s Hospital serves as a regional medical center providing care to infants and families from a large geographical area and diverse socioeconomic standing. Because of the frequent need for ongoing appointments, procedures, and re-hospitalization, this population often falls through the cracks of Early Intervention programs or, if enrolled, suffer significant interruption to established care. Our outpatient program was created to capture this underserved population and is open to any family leaving our Infant Cardiac NICU who will receive postoperative care at our center. Initial visits are scheduled around existing medical appointments and often occur every 4-6 weeks. Outpatient physical therapy consists of ongoing gross motor assessment using the Alberta Infant Motor Scale, hands-on intervention, and a large component of parent education. Our philosophy identifies and teaches parents components of movement, muscle activation required for typical motor development, and how to help their infant succeed, starting wherever the infant presents developmentally. Session participants will gain insight into key components for success: a working knowledge of the management of Complex Congenital Heart Defects, relevant infant assessment tools, fluency in typical and atypical motor development, and effective engagement of the parent as an integral part of the care team. Because of the need for ongoing evaluation in the outpatient model we describe, this course may be more relevant for PTs than PTAs.