Cerebral palsy is a condition marked by impaired muscle coordination and/or other disabilities, most often caused by damage to the brain before or at birth. As appropriate motility of the gastrointestinal tract is dependent on coordinated contractions of the smooth muscle of the esophagus, stomach, small bowel, and colon, many people who have cerebral palsy have gastrointestinal dysmotility.
Approximately 75% of people afflicted with cerebral palsy suffer from constipation. Most of them require osmotic laxatives such as Miralax and/or stimulant laxatives such as bisacodyl to defecate routinely.
When cerebral palsy impairs coordinated contractions of the stomach and/or small bowel, a large amount of air can accumulate in the stomach. This causes abdominal pain, abdominal distention, and nausea. The greater the degree of distention, the more severe the pain. Air that accumulates in the stomach can be expelled through belching. In people who have gastric tubes (a plastic tube entering the stomach through the abdominal wall), air can be expelled from the stomach by venting through the gastrostomy tube. This is most often done by attaching a syringe to the tube and aspirating air from the stomach into the syringe.