Guttmann Institute: Neurological disability rehabilitation treatment in Spain

Guttmann Institute in Barcelona is a leading hospital in the medical treatment, surgery and comprehensive rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injury, acquired brain damage or any other serious neurological disability. Other neurorehabilitation specialities include infantile cerebral palsy, progressive neurological disease (multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), postpolio syndrome(poliomyelitis), and people with disabilities of a neurological origin.

Guttmann Institute: The first neurorehabilitation hospital in Spain 

Established in Barcelona in 1965, Guttmann Institute was the first neurorehabilitation hospital in Spain specially caring for people with acquired spinal cord injury and brain damage. Its goal is to provide the most comprehensive, customised and specialised medical and rehabilitation care at the highest human, scientific and technical level. Its modern facilities, a team of nearly 400 practitioners and a record of 17,000 patients treated make Guttmann Institute one of the most advanced, world-class hospitals of its kind.

As a highly specialised hospital for neurorehabilitation, Institut Guttmann'a mission is to give the best surgical, medical and rehabilitation treatment at all times. 

Multidisplinary team work, its own healthcare plans, expert and quality staff and scientific accuracy applied to all its procedures makes Guttmann Institute a CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE characterised by its ability to generate new knowledge and innovative techniques and its own therapeutic procedures for neurorehabilitation. These factors make it one of the leading hospitals in its field in the world. The Foundation for Care Accreditation and Development and the Joint Comission International certify that the centre complies with all international standards of quality health care and organisational management.

Neurorehabilitation for brain damage and spinal cord injury

Neurorehabilitation is a complex medical process aimed at recovering from, minimising and/or compensating for functional alterations in a person disabled by a nervous system injury. In case of serious disability, such as that caused by a severe spinal injury or brain damage, the patient and his/her families' abilities, life style and projects are suddenly shattered.

Neurorehabilitation aims at furthering the skills and attitudes of the disabled person and his or her loved ones.

Effective and high quality neurorehabilitation must be:

• Holistic

• Patient-focused

• Inclusive - designed and implemented by multidisciplinary teams

• Participatory - the patient and his or her family's active cooperation is a must

• Sparing - for maximum independence from technical aids

• Lifelong

• Resolving - through adequate human and material resources

• Community-focused

The Guttmann neurorehabilitation hospital in Spain

Functions of a neurorehabilitation hospital:

• Specialised medical and surgical treatment and rehabilitation

• Periodic preventive clinical monitoring

• Specialised treatment of the complications pertaining to disability

• Health education, information and personal advice in all areas improving health, independence, quality of life and community reintegration of people with disabilities

• Technical support for the remaining health and community resources within the care systems

• Prevention, knowledge sharing and community awareness raising

• Research and education

Specialised rehabilitation treatment in Barcelona

Spinal cord injury

A break in the spinal cord paralyses voluntary mobility, benumbs below the affected area and also leads to incontinence. It results in sexual and fertility disorders and derangements in the vegetative nervous system as well as risking other complications (such as pressure sores, spasticity, renal disease).

Acquired brain damage

Brain damage may have several various causes: tumours, vascular diseases, infectious diseases, anoxia (if this occurs during labour it is called infantile cerebral palsy), etc. However, the most common cause of brain damage is trauma and it is called craniocerebral trauma - CCT, which is one of the most serious health problems in developed countries.

Infantile cerebral palsy

The term infantile cerebral palsy (ICP) refers to a disorder affecting posture and movement. It is a persistent but variable disorder that follows a non-progressive injury of the growing brain

Progressive neurological diseases

Over the last few years significant advances have been made in diagnosing and treating neurological diseases. Despite these advances, the cause of some of these diseases remains unknown and their only common characteristic is their progressive and gradual effect on the Central Nervous System (CNS) in part or as a whole. The Guttmann treats patients suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson´s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Postpolio syndrome - Poliomyelitis

Poliomyelitis is a neurological disease caused by the polio virus. People affected by poliomyelitis may develop complications in the musculoskeletal system, e.g., scoliosis, shoulder tendonitis, trapping of peripheral nerves relevant to walking or using a wheelchair, breathing difficulties, osteoporotic fractures and, finally, the complete loss of muscle function and self-support.

People with disabilities

The term 'people with disabilities' is the most acceptable and correct way to refer to men and women with absent or limited abilities due to a deficit or abnormality in a body structure or function. This means that they are limited in or are unable to carry out either a mental or a physical task which most people of the same age, cultural level and status are able to do in mainstream conditions.

Service portfolio

AT INJURY START PHASE

Medical and surgical treatment and comprehensive rehabilitation.

• Hospitalisation
  
• Day hospital/outpatient rehabilitation
  
• Rehabilitation of the higher functions
  
• Outpatient clinics (evaluation and complementary tests)
  

AT MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE PHASE

Prevention of complications.

• Specialised periodical comprehensive evaluation
  
• Psychosocial and neuropsychological monitoring
  

Treatment of complications.

• Outpatient clinics
  
• Second opinions
  
• Functional programmes
  
• Hospitalisation
  
• Outpatient rehabilitation
  
• Treatment of cognition
  

Rehabilitation for children outside school time.

• Community reintegration support
  
• Community health team for specialized evaluation and support
  
• Comprehensive in-home services
  

FUNCTIONAL PROGRAMS

All health care delivered at Institut Guttmann is based on clinical programmes under protocol. Besides specific programmes for the comprehensive rehabilitation of people with a recently acquired, severe neurological disability, services include a wide range of functional programmes significantly improving various areas in patients’ health, independence and quality of life. They include:

• Surgery for tetraplegic hands
  
• Surgery for spasticity/neuro-orthopaedics
  
• Intrathecal baclofen infusion by an implantable pump
  
• The use of botulinum toxin to treat focal spasticity
  
• Intensive walking rehabilitation therapy
  
• Comprehensive treatment of neuropathic bladder
  
• Use of neurostimulation/neuromodulation techniques to treat urinary incontinence
  
• Functional electrical stimulation
  
• Postpolio syndrome
  
• The study and treatment of dysphagia
  
• Functional evaluation and treatment of neurogenic bowel
  
• Chronic neuropathic pain medicine
  
• Specialised care for pressure ulcers
  
• Caring for disabled people’s sexuality and assisted reproduction
  
• Gynaecological care for women with a neurological disorder
  
• Rehabilitation of higher functions
  
• Evaluation and treatment of communication pathologies
  
• Transcranial magnetic stimulation
  
• Psychological counselling and treatment
  
• Comprehensive care of people with neurodegenerative diseases
  
• Personal independence and environment control
  
• Periodic comprehensive evaluation
  
• Specialised neurorehabilitation evaluation
  

Contact the Guttmann Institute for rehabilitation treatment in Spain

Guttmann Institute

Neurorehabilitation Hospital

Camí de Can Ruti, s / n

Badalona 08916 · Barcelona (Spain)

Tel:  +34 93 497 77 00 · Fax: +34 93 497 77 07

www.guttmann.com

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