Clinical study of botulinum toxin type A in the treatment of spasmodic torticollis / 中国医师进修杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic effect of botulinum toxin type A(BTX-A)injection in the treatment of spasmodic torticollis.Methods Sixty-four patients with spasmodic torticollis underwent the treatment of intramuscular injection of BTX-A in neck muscles.As a result,the efficiency of BTX-A therapy could be evaluated successfully.Results Considerable improvement of symptoms for the spasmodic torticollis patients was observed with BTX-A treatment.The average dose of BTX-A was(120.37 ±25.26) U.Injection points were 30.00 ± 4.85.The Tsui scores before treatment were (13.08 ±4.16) scores,and 2 weeks after treatment were (4.21 ± 2.63) scores.The Tsui scores showed a significant reduction after BTX-A injections (P <0.01).After treatment complete remission rate was 25.0% (16/64),significant improvement rate was 60.9% (39/64),partial improvement rate was 12.5% (8/64),invalid rate was 1.6%(1/64) and efficient rate was 85.9% (55/64).Duration of effect was (16.86-4.57) weeks.Patients who received repeated injections also had good response,with symptoms improved and dosage of BTX-A reduced.No serious adverse events happened in treatments.Conclusion BTX-A therapy is simple and effective in the treatment of spasmodic torticollis and should be considered as the first-choice treatment for the condition.