Botox could help rehabilitate stroke patients

Healthcare News
31/10/2005
Using Botox can improve muscle tone and reduce pain in the arms and hands of stroke patients.

Using Botox can improve muscle tone and reduce pain in the arms and hands of stroke patients, new research has shown.

The findings, presented at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R), showed that repeated treatments of botulinum toxin type A (BoNATA) over one year could help a patient's mobility.

Allison Brashear M.D and chairperson of neurology at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center said: "The treatment resulted in sustained and meaningful functional improvement that makes a difference in the daily lives of stroke patients and the people who care for them."

The study, which was the first to analyse the repeated use of BoNATA (sold as BOTOX) for post-stroke spasticity, focused on 35 centres and 279 stroke patients with wrist, hand or elbow spasticity.

Spasticity affects up to 30 per cent of stroke survivors and can causes functional limitations, discomfort and pain. It can also hinder a person's ability to wash, dress or feed themself.

It was found after one year of treatment with BoNATA (up to five treatments) muscle tone in the wrist, fingers, thumb and elbow was improved from baseline.

The BOTOX injections also helped improved the patients' ability to dress themselves and increase their mobility.

"If it isn't managed effectively, post-stroke spasticity can result in very disabling complications such as contractures, a condition that leaves the muscles and tendons permanently shortened," Ms Brashear said.

"Early intervention with effective therapies is absolutely vital to prevent the profound disability that afflicts many stroke patients, and to lessen the emotional and financial toll on caregivers and the health care system as a whole."