Dysphagia and Muscle Weakness Caused by Botulinum Toxin Poisoning after Cosmetic Injection: Three Case Reports and Clinical Warnings.
Lei Wu, Xingcheng Li, Yangshan Fu and 2 others
PMID 40358688WHAT IT FOUND
Three patients developed severe swallowing and speech difficulties after cosmetic botulinum toxin injections at non-medical facilities.
Symptoms included muscle weakness and choking. All three required hospitalization, antitoxin treatment, and swallowing rehabilitation, with significant recovery achieved.
Key findings
01Cosmetic botulinum toxin injections administered in non-medical settings led to systemic complications including dysphagia, dysarthria, and generalized muscle weakness in three patients.
02Treatment involved intravenous botulinum antitoxin, methylprednisolone, nutritional support, and swallowing rehabilitation, resulting in symptom resolution or significant relief after hospital stays ranging from 17 to 29 days.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
This is a report of only three cases, so it cannot establish how common these complications are or how effective specific treatments are. The doses and specific products used varied, and one dose was unknown, making it difficult to determine if the severity was due to dosage, product quality, or injection technique. All injections were performed at non-medical institutions, so the findings may not apply to treatments administered in clinical settings by qualified professionals. The treatment involved multiple simultaneous interventions (antitoxin, steroids, nutritional support, rehabilitation), so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.
Declared interests
No funding sources or conflicts of interest are explicitly declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that botulinum toxin complications are rare or mild. These three cases show that injections in non-medical settings can lead to severe, systemic neuromuscular damage requiring hospitalization. Also, do not attribute recovery solely to one treatment, as all patients received a combination of antitoxin, steroids, and rehabilitation.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →