The effect of short-term treatment with botulinum toxin a on muscle stiffness in stroke patients: an exploratory study.
Jelena Simic, Kristin Østlie, Fin Biering-Sørensen and 3 others
PMID 40947884WHAT IT FOUND
Botulinum toxin injections reduced calf muscle stiffness in stroke patients at 6 weeks, but stiffness increased again by 3 months.
There was no significant difference in stiffness between the start and the 3-month mark. Individual goals were only moderately linked to stiffness changes.
Key findings
01Muscle stiffness in the injected calf muscle decreased significantly from baseline to 6 weeks, but increased again from 6 weeks to 3 months.
02There were no significant changes in muscle stiffness from baseline to 3 months in either ankle position.
03A moderate positive correlation was found between changes in muscle stiffness and goal attainment scores at 3 months, but no correlations were found with walking function.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Small sample size of 25 participants. No control group; the study compared treated and untreated legs within the same patients. The same physician administered the injection and performed the measurements, introducing potential bias. Participants had varying levels of spasticity, time since stroke, and physical activity, which may have influenced results. Shear wave elastography measures total tissue stiffness and cannot distinguish between neural spasticity and structural changes in the muscle.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that botulinum toxin provides lasting stiffness reduction. While stiffness dropped at 6 weeks, it returned significantly by 3 months, and there was no difference compared to baseline at that final time point.
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 →