Could Botox make walking easier in children with cerebral palsy?

JULY 24, 2024 - A recent randomized clinical trial published in Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology assessed whether injections of botulinumtoxin-A in calf muscles benefit children with cerebral palsy.

“We hypothesized that injections with botulinumtoxin-A in the calf muscles would make walking easier, caused by improved ankle joint functioning following spasticity reduction,” the authors wrote.

In the trial, one botulinumtoxin-A treatment was not superior to placebo in making walking easier (measured as a reduction in energy cost or improved walking capacity); however, there was some evidence of a delayed improvement in energy cost. Moreover, there was some evidence of a decrease in calf pain intensity. No serious adverse events related to botulinumtoxin-A treatment were recorded.

URL upon publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dmcn.16038

Full citation: “Does botulinum neurotoxin A make walking easier in children with cerebral palsy? A randomized clinical trial.” Siri Merete Brændvik, Anne Elisabeth Ross Raftemo, Karin Roeleveld, Guro Lillemoen Andersen, Kjersti Ramstad, Turid Follestad, Ånen Aarli, Marcin Bonikowski, Torstein Vik, Walking Easier. Dev Med Child Neurol; Published Online: 12 June 2024 (DOI: 10.1111/dmcn.16038).

Copyright © 2019 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Reproduced with permission.