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Research paper
Kinematic improvement following Botulinum Toxin-A injection in upper-limb spasticity due to stroke
  1. Esteban A Fridman1,2,3,
  2. Marcos Crespo1,
  3. Santiago Gomez Argüello1,
  4. Lorena Degue1,
  5. Mirta Villarreal1,3,
  6. Stephan Bohlhalter2,
  7. Lewis Wheaton2,
  8. Mark Hallett2
  1. 1Neurorehabilitation Section and Spasticity Clinic, Institute for Neurological Research-FLENI, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  2. 2Human Motor Control Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
  3. 3CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  1. Correspondence to Dr Esteban A Fridman, Neurorehabilitation Section and Spasticity Clinic, Neurology Department, Institute for Neurological Research, FLENI, Montaneses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina; efridman{at}fleni.org.ar

Abstract

Background Focal spasticity is a significant motor disorder following stroke, and Botulinum Toxin Type-A (BoNT-A) is a useful treatment for this. The authors evaluated kinematic modifications induced by spasticity, and whether or not there is any improvement following injection of BoNT-A.

Methods Eight patients with stroke with upper-limb spasticity, showing a flexor pattern, were evaluated using kinematics before and after focal treatment with BoNT-A. A group of sex- and age-matched normal volunteers acted as a control group.

Results Repeated-measures ANOVA showed that patients with stroke performed more slowly than the control group. Following treatment with BoNT-A, there was a significant improvement in kinematics in patients with stroke, while in the control group, performance remained unchanged.

Conclusions Focal treatment of spasticity with BoNT-A leads to an adaptive change in the upper limb of patients with spastic stroke.

  • Spasticity
  • upper limb
  • kinematics
  • Botulinum Toxin
  • rehabilitation
  • stroke

https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp.2009.188052

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    Footnotes

    • Linked articles 197780

    • Funding The work was supported in part by the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Intramural Program and the Institute for Neurological Research-FLENI.

    • Competing interests None.

    • Ethics approval Ethics approval was provided by the Institute for Neurological Research-FLENI-IRB.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

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