ESSAY: Disorders of motor function

Parents bring their 3-month-old infant to the urgent care you work at, complaining that he has had constipation for 5 days that was preceded by weakness for several weeks. Upon physical exam, you note hypotonia, hyperreflexia, and respiratory distress. You advise the parents you believe the child needs to be admitted to hospital and taken immediately to the local pediatric emergency room.

In your initial post, answer the following questions:

The parents ask you why you are so concerned and tell you they would prefer you to give him something for the constipation. They would rather just take him home. How would you respond?
The parents persist that they do not think their son needs to be admitted to the hospital. As a clinician, you believe they are making the wrong decision and are concerned for the infant’s health. What alternatives might you consider to ensure the parents understand the gravity of their decision?

ANSWER

Disorders of Motor Function

Health problems of motor function result from damaged and malfunctioning motor systems and lead to involuntary and abnormal movements. Common symptoms of the diseases are jerks, spasms, twitches, tremors, gaits and contraction problems. Human action requires several brain parts to function together in performing complex functions. Signals are sent continuously from and to the brain by the muscles, which regulate movement details such as direction and speed. Therefore, malfunctioning of any brain part leads to an incorrect signal that cause involuntary and uncontrollable actions (Rodríguez-Violante et al., 2017). Healthcare research indicates that constipation is also among the common signs of uncontrollable body actions as a result of motor function disorders. Therefore, the child in the case study is likely indicating early symptoms of motor skills disorders, which calls for timely medical interventions before the health conditions become unmanageable.

Based on the case study, the child is three months old, has experienced constipation for five days, followed by weakness for some weeks. The physical exam leads to the detection of hypotonia, respiratory distress, and hyperreflexia, which are some of the common disorders of the motor function. The first response to the parents as a health care provider is to explain to them that constipation is not a health condition but a sign of an existing health problem. Therefore, besides changes in diet, increased hydration, exercise, giving warm baths and massage, health interventions must be applied to solve the primary health problems displaying constipation as a symptom. I will then explain to the parents about the noticed health conditions, hypotonia, respiratory distress, and hyperreflexia, and advise them that it is for the best if the child is instantly admitted and taken to the child health specialists to start dealing with the disorders immediately. In this case, the parents insist on not admitting their son in the hospital because of the thought that the health condition does not require that much intervention. More details are, therefore, necessary to help them understand the gravity of the situation. Therefore, as a clinician, I will have to go into details to explain the dangers of the detected problems and their possible outcomes if not handled properly. I will start by explaining the identified health problems after conducting the physical exam and the potential health hazard they are likely to cause. First, hypotonia is a condition of low muscle tone and reduced muscle strength. The condition is a manifestation of motor health problems, controlled by muscle strength or brain. Primarily, the condition is not life-threatening but indicates the existence of…