Department of
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Division of Neurologic and Medical Rehabilitation

The Division of Neurologic and Medical Rehabilitation addresses stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury and medical rehabilitation in the areas of frailty, spasticity and organ transplant.

We aim to train physicians to help patients relearn and practice skills that may have been lost when the brain was damaged due to limited blood flow or to learn new ways to perform tasks. At WVU, the PM&R department is a comprehensive rehabilitation team with a physical, occupational, and speech therapist.

Stroke

PM&R physicians in this area lead a comprehensive rehabilitation team, including physical, occupational and speech therapists. The goal is to help patients relearn and practice skills that may have been lost when the brain was damaged due to limited blood flow. The Stroke Team helps patients relearn and practice skills that may have been lost when the brain was damaged due to limited blood flow, or to learn new ways to perform tasks. 

Our team members are trained to help stroke patients get back to work and driving, get the right home equipment, and treat complications associated with stroke, such as post-stroke pain and spasticity.

Traumatic Brain Injury

PM&R physicians in this area have specialty training in brain injury rehabilitation. We work with patients to develop a treatment plan for symptom management and functional improvement.

PM&R, with the rehabilitation teams they lead, provides individualized care that is focused on helping patients achieve the best possible level of function after an injury. The treatment plan can include a combination of medications and working with physical and occupational therapists, as well as vision/vestibular therapists. Other rehabilitation team members from across the WVU Health system, including speech therapists, psychologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, vocational rehabilitation specialists and social workers, may also be involved.

Residents and fellows will be able to practice in our Multidisciplinary Concussion / mTBI Clinic located within the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. The clinic is a multidisciplinary team approach in the treatment of patients with concussion / mTBI, utilizing evidence-based cutting-edge treatment techniques and technologies to maximize recovery.  We treat not only athletes and work-related causes of concussion / mTBI but also work with local government and social services in treating those who have suffered injury through domestic violence.

Spinal Cord Injury

PM&R physicians coordinate a team of healthcare professionals, such as physical and occupational therapists, in developing and implementing a comprehensive rehabilitation plan while in the hospital and beyond.

Learners in our program follow patients with SCI for life, providing medical management, diagnosing, and treating pain, spasticity, contractures, and other conditions that may accompany spinal cord injury, such as pressure sores and blood pressure dysregulation. In addition, our team assists patients with equipment needs such as wheelchairs, crutches, and adaptive equipment. Provide education for patients and families and advocate for their needs. PM&R helps coordinate the care of SCI patients with other specialists such as Urologists, primary care physicians, Neurologists, Orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, pulmonologists, plastic surgeons, wound care clinicians, and home care agencies.  PM&R promotes the health of individuals with SCI via preventative care and rehabilitation measures and strives to maintain health and quality of life.

Medical Rehabilitation

PM&R physicians in this area consult with a variety of medical teams, including geriatrics, neurology, pediatrics, neurosurgery, orthopedics, and surgical specialty teams, to improve a wide range of patient conditions from organ transplant recovery to barriers in medical care.

  • Frailty Program: A multi-disciplinary program with Geriatric Medicine addressing each patient’s medication regimen to minimize the number of medications and to choose medications and dosages to prevent side effects. Address nutritional status to ensure a balanced diet. The program looks at environmental factors, such as financial resources or physical barriers (lack of transportation), that impact access to medical care. The program develops individualized plans for patients to participate in an exercise program that includes aerobic, resistance, flexibility, and balance exercises. These exercises will help develop and strengthen muscles and improve balance to prevent falls. 
  • Spasticity Program: a multi-disciplinary program consisting of PM&R, neurology, pediatrics, neurosurgery, and orthopedic surgery, as well as physical, occupational, and speech therapy specialists working together to address functional improvement and quality of life for patients with spasticity. PT/OT will educate patients and families on how to stretch muscles, which can relieve stiffness from spasticity and keep the muscles as flexible as possible.  They may also use treatments such as braces, splints, heat, ice, ultrasound, or electrical stimulation to help with spasticity.  Speech therapy may be used for problems with speech or swallowing that may happen because of muscle tightness. PM&R can help coordinate the treatment of your spasticity. Our providers may prescribe oral medications, such as baclofen, tizanidine, or dantrolene for more generalized spasticity. For spasticity primarily affecting one or two limbs, we may perform botulinum toxin or phenol injections, and for severe isolated spastic muscles or contractions, orthopedic surgery may offer surgical techniques to release muscles/tendons to improve function, care of patient, and pain. For generalized spasticity that has not responded to oral medications or if there are side effects to oral meds, intrathecal baclofen pumps offer an excellent treatment option.
  • Organ Transplant Patient Optimization Program: a multi-disciplinary comprehensive management program for transplant patients (including biological, social, and psychological assessments). The program coordinates the involvement of medical/surgical specialty teams necessary to develop a comprehensive plan for the patient and reviews the plan of care with the other members of the clinical team, participates in directing that care, performing diagnostic/therapeutic procedures, peri-operative services, prehabilitation, and coordinates coordinate post-operative planning/rehabilitation needs/follow-up visits.