Effect of botulinum toxin A on tibial nerve F wave and walking ability in patients after stroke / 中华全科医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Sixty five stroke patients undergoing rehabilitation training in our hospital from May 2010 to May 2013 were randomly divided into study group (n =32) and control group (n =33).Patients in study group received intramuscular injection of botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) in the affected limbs before rehabilitation training started.The F wave amplitude and F/M value,muscle tension and TUG test and 10 m free walking test results of patients in two groups were observed before and 4 weeks after treatment.Compared to the results before treatment,the amplitude of F wave and F/M value after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment in study group decreased significantly (P ＜ 0.05).Compared to control group,the indexes at each time point after treatment in study group were significantly different (P ＜ 0.05).The muscle tension score in study group after 4 weeks of treatment decreased significantly (P ＜ 0.05),and also lower than that in control group (P ＜ 0.05).Before treatment there were no significant differences in TUG test and 10 m free walk test between two groups (P ＞0.05) ; while TUG test and 10 m free walk test in study group were better than those in control group after 4 weeks of treatment (P ＜ 0.05).The TUG test and 10 m free walk test had little improvement in control group after treatment (P ＞ 0.05).The results indicate that botulinum toxin A injection can reduce amplitude of F wave in the corresponding segment of spinal cord motor neurons and improve the walking ability of stroke patients.