Chiari Malformation requires specialized care and treatment that may not be available where you live. You may need to travel a long distance to a children’s hospital or center of excellence that can provide the care your child needs. Some treatment plans require frequent repeat trips for treatment plus periodic follow-up. Be sure to consider the challenges of travel when discussing the treatment plan with your physician. This includes not only the cost of travel, but time away from work, childcare for other children in the family, and so on.
Chiari Malformation Treatment Plans and Travel
Chiari Malformation is a condition where the lower part of the brain pushes down to into the spinal canal. This is a congenital defect at the back of the head where the brain and spinal cord connect. It is also known as Arnold Chiari Malformation. This condition occurs when the part of the skull is abnormally distorted or relatively small. The diagnosis and treatment of Chiari Malformation may require medical travel to a children’s hospital or other center of excellence, which may be a long distance, depending on where you live.
Some forms of Chiari malformation might require surgery to be treated so one must travel to the health care facility that provides a proper team neurosurgeons and physicians to properly treat Chiari malformation. Also after surgery, follow-ups and complete medical attention is needed to avoid the recurrence of symptoms.
Chiari Malformation requires specialized care and treatment that may not be available where you live. You may need to travel a long distance to a children’s hospital or center of excellence that can provide the care your child needs. Some treatment plans require frequent repeat trips for treatment plus periodic follow-up. Be sure to consider the challenges of travel when discussing the treatment plan with your physician. This includes not only the cost of travel, but time away from work, childcare for other children in the family, and so on.
If these travel challenges are a barrier to your child getting the treatment they need, consider reaching out to a charitable medical travel organization like Angel Flight West or other similar organizations referenced in this article. We can potentially help with free air travel, which often reduces the burden of frequent long trips to treatment. The Air Care Alliance provides a directory of other similar organizations across the US.
Like every other disorder, Chiari Malformation’s symptoms and their severity define the treatment of the malformation. If there are no visible symptoms, then the doctors may recommend regular monitoring of the patient with MRI. If the affected individual is experiencing headaches or pains, prescribed painkillers are given to suppress these.
If the symptoms are severe and worse, then other options like surgery are considered. In most of the cases, surgery is the only treatment that is considered in order to replenish further damage to the central nervous system. Many times, more than one surgery is necessary for the treatment of Chiari Malformation.
The most common form of surgery to treat Chiari Malformation is posterior fossa decompression. This surgical procedure creates more space for cerebellum and relieves the pressure on spinal cord. The process involves making an incision at the back of the head and removal of a small bone at the bottom of the skull.
Infants and children with Chiari Malformation require a surgery to reposition their spinal cord and close the opening of their back. Research suggests that this surgery is the most effective when done prenatally that is when the child is still in womb instead of after the birth of the child as suggested by National Institutes of Health (NIH). This surgery places the cerebellum and spinal cord in a more normal way.
Another corrective procedure that can be used is Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) where a small hole is made in the brain to drain out the entire extra trapped fluid.
When the Cost of Traveling for Medical Treatment becomes a Burden
Angel Flight West provides free non-emergency medical transportation in the western U.S for people who cannot afford the cost. We know the cost of air travel can be prohibitive, which means needed treatment is often put off or never received. Our goal is to give you full access to the care you need at no cost to you.
Since our founding in 1983, Angel Flight West has provided nearly 100,000 flights for thousands of people. Our private volunteer pilots fly their own or rented aircraft and donate the flight costs to Angel Flight West. When a small aircraft is impractical, we partner with major air carriers, including Alaska Airlines, Mokulele Airlines, Contour Airlines, JSX, and Hawaiian Airlines. We also have volunteer drivers called Earth Angels who assist with the ground portion of our donated trips.
If the cost of traveling for medical treatment has become a burden for you, we encourage you to find out more about our services, request a flight now if you have a scheduled medical appointment that you need to travel more than 100 miles to, or contact our office at [email protected] or (310) 390-2958. We look forward to serving you.
