Peri-operative Botulinum Neurotoxin injection to improve outcomes of surgeries on spastic limbs: A systematic review.

Our objective was to systematically review literature regarding the rationale and current evidence for peri-operative Botulinum Neurotoxin (BoNT) injection to improve outcomes of surgeries on spastic limbs. We conducted a systematic search of databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled until March 2020, using the PRISMA guidelines. After assessing all titles and abstracts against inclusion criteria, full texts were reviewed for studies of potential interest. The inclusion criteria were studies on humans with any study design, published in all languages. Participants had to have underlying limb spasticity and be scheduled to undergo surgery on one or more spastic limb(s). BoNT had to be administered peri-operatively to improve surgical outcomes and not solely for the purpose of alleviating spasticity. The risk of bias was evaluated using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scoring system for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and the Downs and Black tool for RCTs and non-randomized trials. Further, the level of evidence was evaluated using a five-level scale (simplified form of Sackett). Five studies met our inclusion criteria comprising a total of 90 participants, of both pediatric and adult age groups, with underlying limb spasticity, who received BoNT perioperatively to improve outcomes of the surgeries performed on spastic limbs. Interventions were intramuscular BoNT injection prior to, at the time of, or after surgery on a spastic limb for the purpose of improving surgical outcomes, and not solely for alleviating muscle spasticity. Outcome measures were surgical success/failure, post-operative pain and analgesic use, sleep quality, adverse events, spasticity control e.g. Modified Ashworth Scale. Our literature search yielded 5 articles that met the inclusion criteria. Current evidence supports peri-operative injection of BoNT to improve outcomes of surgeries performed on spastic limbs. There is level 1 evidence that BoNT administered pre-operatively is effective for reducing pain, spasticity, and analgesic use in pediatric patients with cerebral palsy (CP). This is supported by level 4 evidence from a retrospective case series. Level 5 evidence from case reports highlights the potential for the use of BONT in the peri-operative period. There is level 1 evidence that BoNT administered intra-operatively is not effective for reducing pain and analgesic use in pediatric patients with CP. This lack of benefit may reflect sub-optimal timing of injections, different methods of injection, different timing of the primary outcome measure, and/or differences in adjunctive therapies, but further research is required.

Near-infrared spectroscopy as a quantitative spasticity assessment tool: A systematic review.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the literature on the use of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for assessing spasticity. MEDLINE, CINAHL, and EMBASE were searched for human and/or animal studies written in the English language published until November 2018. that used NIRS to examine the hemodynamics and/or metabolism of spastic musculature were included. Of the 35 articles identified, five met the inclusion criteria. Two reviewers independently extracted spasticity outcomes, NIRS instrumentation specifications, and NIRS hemodynamic and metabolic measures from each article. Risk of bias was assessed using the Downs & Black tool for non-randomized studies. Three different models of NIRS devices were used in the five studies. Four studies examined the effects of passive limb movements and one examined active hand movements on NIRS parameters in spastic and non-spastic muscle. Owing to the small number and diverse nature of the studies, statistical comparison was deemed inappropriate. Rather, descriptive comparisons were drawn and levels of evidence were assigned based on the modified Sackett Scale. There is level 4 evidence that NIRS can non-invasively detect and measure differences between spastic and non-spastic muscles in blood volume and oxidative capacity changes over time or in response to interventions, and may correlate with other, established measures of spasticity, such as the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) and electromyography (EMG). Future research studies should use a validated definition of spasticity for inclusion criteria, a control group, and standardized NIRS variables.

Cryoneurotomy as a Percutaneous Mini-invasive Therapy for the Treatment of the Spastic Limb: Case Presentation, Review of the Literature, and Proposed Approach for Use.

OBJECTIVE: To provide a proof-of-concept study demonstrating that the decades old procedure of cryoneurotomy, used traditionally for analgesia, is a safe adjunctive and effective treatment for limb spasticity. DESIGN: Case series. SETTING: Publicly funded outpatient hospital spasticity clinic and community interventional anesthesia clinic. PARTICIPANTS: Patients (N=3) who had plateaued with standard of care spasticity treatments including botulinum toxin. Two hemiplegic stroke patients with elbow spasticity and 1 pregnant patient with multiple sclerosis and a spastic equinovarus foot for whom botulinum toxin was now contraindicated. INTERVENTIONS: Selective anesthetic diagnostic motor nerve blocks with ultrasound and e-stimulation with 1cc of 1% lidocaine to the motor nerve to the targeted spastic muscle were performed to either the musculocutaneous nerve to brachialis, radial nerve to the brachioradialis or the tibial nerve. If the benefits included improved active and passive range motion and or decreased clonus, a percutaneous cryoneurotomy was performed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Active and passive range of motion were measured using the Modified Tardieu Scale. The change in resistance to passive stretch was measured using the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS). Videos of the before and after treatment were collected. RESULTS: Both elbows' treatments resulted in MAS improving from a 3 to a 1+. Greatly improved active range of motion was noted at 94 and 64 degrees, respectively, as well as improvements in passive range on the Modified Tardieu Scale. The tibial nerve cryoneurotomy resulted in improvements in all parameters with a much improved gait. Results were maintained up to 17 months of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Cryoneurotomy as a treatment for spasticity is a novel safe adjuvant treatment. Our initial results suggest patients can achieve significantly increased active and passive range of motion in the upper extremity and decreased clonus, and improved gait after tibial nerve cryoneurotomy.

Improving Self-Management Skills Among People With Spinal Cord Injury: Protocol for a Mixed-Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: Most people with spinal cord injury will develop secondary complications with potentially devastating consequences. Self-management is a key prevention strategy for averting the development of secondary complications and their recurrence. Several studies have shown that self-management programs improve self-management behaviors and health outcomes in individuals living with chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis. Given the burgeoning health care costs related to secondary complications, we developed an alternative electronic health-based implementation to facilitate the development of self-management skills among people with spinal cord injury. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of a self-management app in spinal cord injury populations. The primary outcome is attainment of self-selected, self-management goals. Secondary outcomes include increases in general and self-management self-efficacy and reductions in self-reported health events, health care utilization, and secondary complications related to spinal cord injury. This study also aims to explore how the intervention was implemented and how the app was experienced by end users. METHODS: This study will employ a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. The quantitative portion of our study will involve a rater-blinded, randomized controlled trial with a stepped wedge design (ie, delayed intervention control group). The primary outcome is successful goal attainment, and secondary outcomes include increases in self-efficacy and reductions in self-reported health events, health care utilization, and secondary conditions related to spinal cord injury. The qualitative portion will consist of semistructured interviews with a subsample of the participants. RESULTS: We expect that the mobile self-management app will help people with spinal cord injury to attain their self-management goals, improve their self-efficacy, reduce secondary complications, and decrease health care utilization. CONCLUSIONS: If the results are positive, this study will produce credible new knowledge describing multiple outcomes that people with spinal cord injury realize from an app-based self-management intervention and support its implementation in clinical practice. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03140501; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03140501 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/73Gw0ZlWZ). INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/11069.

Clinicians' perspective of the current diagnostic criteria for myofascial pain syndrome.

INTRODUCTION: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is one of the most common chronic musculoskeletal pain disorders. However, MPS is often under-diagnosed. The purpose of this study was to characterize practicing clinicians' perspectives of the current diagnostic criteria for MPS. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design was used with a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire evaluated clinicians' perspective of the current diagnostic criteria for MPS. The sample population (n= 119) consisted of 40% family physicians, 31% physical medicine (PM) and rehabilitation specialists, 11% rheumatologists, 10% emergency room (ER) physicians, and 8% anesthesiologists specializing in chronic pain. RESULTS: Our findings demonstrated that participating clinicians agree that ``point tenderness'' and ``pain reproduction'' are criteria for MPS. In contrast, the clinicians do not consider ``autonomic symptoms'' as an important criterion for MPS. The anesthesiologists view ``restricted range of motion'' as a criterion for MPS more than the other groups, and they tend to consider ``referred pain'' and ``pain reproduction'' as criteria. Physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists and anesthesiologists tend to view ``local twitch response'' more as a criterion for MPS compared with the other groups. Most groups of clinicians consider ``weakness without atrophy'' as an important MPS criterion except for family physicians. It is important to note that ``poor sleep'', ``daytime fatigue'' and ``cognitive symptoms'', which are not considered as MPS symptoms, are often mistaken for MPS among practicing clinicians. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the diagnostic criteria are not well known, highlighting the need for an expert consensus to determine the importance of each criterion for MPS diagnosis.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation for Management of Limb Spasticity: A Systematic Review.

The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize the effect of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for management of limb spasticity. Randomized controlled trials were searched using electronic databases through July 2015. Fourteen randomized controlled trials were included, involving 544 participants. Intervention protocols fit within three categories: 1) TENS vs. no TENS or placebo TENS (n = 7), 2) TENS vs. another TENS protocol or another intervention for spasticity management (n = 7), and 3) TENS as an adjunct to another intervention for spasticity management (n = 4). There was level 1 and 2 evidence for TENS improving spasticity-related outcome measures within the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health domains of body structure and function (e.g., Modified Ashworth Scale) as well as activity (e.g., gait). Better responses in outcome measures in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health activity domain were seen when TENS was used in combination with active therapy (e.g., exercise and task-related training) vs. as a single therapeutic modality.

Systematic review of adjunct therapies to improve outcomes following botulinum toxin injection for treatment of limb spasticity.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the quality of evidence from randomized controlled trials on the efficacy of adjunct therapies following botulinum toxin injections for limb spasticity. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials electronic databases were searched for English language human studies from 1980 to 21 May 2015. STUDY SELECTION: Randomized controlled trials assessing adjunct therapies postbotulinum toxin injection for treatment of spasticity were included. Of the 268 studies screened, 17 met selection criteria. DATA EXTRACTION: Two reviewers independently assessed risk of bias using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale and graded according to Sackett's levels of evidence. DATA SYNTHESIS: Ten adjunct therapies were identified. Evidence suggests that adjunct use of electrical stimulation, modified constraint-induced movement therapy, physiotherapy (all Level 1), casting and dynamic splinting (both Level 2) result in improved Modified Ashworth Scale scores by at least 1 grade. There is Level 1 and 2 evidence that adjunct taping, segmental muscle vibration, cyclic functional electrical stimulation, and motorized arm ergometer may not improve outcomes compared with botulinum toxin injections alone. There is Level 1 evidence that casting is better than taping, taping is better than electrical stimulation and stretching, and extracorporeal shock wave therapy is better than electrical stimulation for outcomes including the Modified Ashworth Scale, range of motion and gait. All results are based on single studies. CONCLUSION: There is high level evidence to suggest that adjunct therapies may improve outcomes following botulinum toxin injection. No results have been confirmed by independent replication. All interventions would benefit from further study.

Nonpharmacologic management of orthostatic hypotension: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the literature on nonpharmacologic treatment of orthostatic hypotension. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and SPORTDiscus were searched for human studies written in the English language between January 1980 and April 2013. Reference lists of relevant articles were reviewed for citations to expand the data set. STUDY SELECTION: Prospective experimental studies assessing nonpharmacologic interventions for management of orthostatic drop in blood pressure in various patient populations were included. All studies identified through the literature search were reviewed independently in duplicate. Of the 642 studies, 23 met the selection criteria. DATA EXTRACTION: Two reviewers independently extracted data for analysis, including systolic and diastolic blood pressure and orthostatic symptoms in response to postural challenge before and after the intervention. All 23 studies were assessed in duplicate for risk of bias using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale for randomized controlled trials and the Downs and Black tool for nonrandomized trials. DATA SYNTHESIS: There were 8 identified nonpharmacologic interventions for management of orthostatic hypotension under 2 general categories: physical modalities (exercise, functional electrical stimulation, compression, physical countermaneuvers, compression with physical countermaneuvers, sleeping with head up) and dietary measures (water intake, meals). Owing to the clinically diverse nature of the studies, statistical comparison (meta-analysis) was deemed inappropriate. Instead, descriptive comparisons were drawn. Levels of evidence were assigned. CONCLUSIONS: Strong levels of evidence were found for 4 of the 8 interventions: functional electrical stimulation in spinal cord injury, compression of the legs and/or abdomen, physical countermaneuvers in various patient populations, and eating smaller and more frequent meals in chronic autonomic failure. However, this conclusion is based on a limited number of studies with small sample sizes. Further research into all interventions is warranted.