August 31, 2017

by: Guest Contributor

Physiatry Clinic – Partnership with Cleveland Clinic and UCP of Greater Cleveland

This week’s expert article was written by Benjamin Katholi, MD, associate staff for Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation. Dr. Katholi comes to UCP of Greater Cleveland’s pediatric therapy clinic once a month to offer physiatry assessments and follow-up to UCP clients. The staff at UCP highly value our collaboration and partnership with Dr. Katholi, as his method of treatment fits in well with our holistic team approach. Dr. Katholi is also able to refer clients to other physicians with specific expertise and recommend specialized interventions.

Physical medicine and rehabilitation, or physiatry, is a medical specialty that focuses on a broad range of disabling conditions affecting patients. This may include disorders of brain, spinal cord, nerves, bones, joints, ligaments, muscles, and tendons. Pediatric physiatry commonly cares for patients with diagnoses including cerebral palsy, spasticity, gait abnormalities, muscle and nerve disorders, spina bifida, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, developmental delay, chronic pain syndromes, sports injuries, spine disorders, brachial plexus injuries, and torticollis.  We work with therapists and other medical providers to treat children with physical and cognitive disabilities. Our goals are to improve function, prevent further disability, avert disease complications and assist caregivers with treatment.

I became interested in pediatric physiatry to help improve quality of life in pediatric patients, and to better enable families to care of their children. In training, we receive education in many treatments that allow for this goal including oral medications, specialized injections such as botulinum toxin injections and phenol injections, and intrathecal baclofen pump therapy. There is also a special focus on bracing and adaptive equipment to improve positioning and comfort, along with improved walking abilities. In addition to my traditional training, I also have pursued training in complementary techniques such as medical acupuncture and frequency specific microcurrent. The combination of traditional and complementary techniques has enabled me to better care for my patients. My favorite part of my specialty is the ability to work as part of a team providing care for patients. Working as a team is the most powerful tool that can be offered to any patient in all parts of the healthcare. Making patients and families a part of that team is essential. 

I enjoy working closely with therapists who are providing care to my patients. I met with the staff from UCP of Greater Cleveland after beginning employment at Cleveland Clinic in 2010. We worked together to create a clinic that allowed for group visits with the family and patient, treating therapists, social work, and myself. These group visits have enabled better care for patients, allowed for ongoing problem solving, and allowed for better communication for the whole team. For the last 7 years I have enjoyed a partnership with this wonderful organization and look forward to my monthly clinics at UCP.

Bio: Benjamin Katholi, MD, received his bachelor’s degree from Illinois College and earned his medical degree from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine where he also completed an internship in internal medicine. After a residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at University of Minnesota, he completed a two-year fellowship in Pediatric Rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. He is board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and pediatric rehabilitation.

Dr. Katholi has areas of interest in medical acupuncture, microcurrent therapy, pediatric gait disorders, orthotics and prosthetics, neuromuscular disease, cerebral palsy, brachial plexus injuries, spina bifida, traumatic brain injury, and spasticity management including intrathecal baclofen pump, Botulinum toxin injections and phenol neurolysis.

He has been invited to speak on a variety of topics such as rehabilitation pharmacology, pediatric integrative medicine, pediatric cancer rehabilitation, gait disorders, and spasticity management. He currently serves as Associate Staff for Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation.

 

---