Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)

Department

Physical Therapy

First Advisor

Peggy Mohr

Keywords

Clinical Decision-Making; Oligodendroglioma -- rehabilitation; Case Reports

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this case report is to describe the clinical decision-making processes of the physical therapy (PT) care for a patient who was diagnosed with an anaplastic oligodendroglioma and subsequently had surgical decompression and resection, chemotherapy, and radiation.

Background Anaplastic oligodendrogliomas account for 3% to 20% of all brain tumors. The incidence of this tumor is 40% greater in males than females. Average onset occurs between 35 and 44 years of age. Anaplastic oligodendrogliomas commonly occur in the frontal lobes and are supratentorial. Patients will often present with headaches, new weakness, vision changes, and a decline in cognitive functioning; seizures are also a possible clinical sign.

Case Description The patient was a 39-year-old male who was diagnosed with a grade Ill anaplastic oligodendroglioma. He underwent surgical decompression and resection, chemotherapy, and radiation. He participated in 4 months of PT following the surgery (1-month inpatient and 3-months outpatient), an additional 6 months of outpatient PT following a set-back due to scar tissue formation 2 years later, and presented to outpatient PT for a third time since the surgery due to recent falls.

Intervention Interventions included balance training, lower extremity strengthening, and gait progression retraining.

Outcomes The patient improved in his single-leg stance test (SLST) balance ability, 5 times (5x) sit to stand test time, and 1 0-meter walk test (1 OMWT) scores.

Discussion Due to attendance issues, this patient did not progress as quickly as projected. Many personal and familial factors altered his participation throughout the therapy sessions.

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