Quick Question

[minismom]

At Mim's ortho visit, one of the things he suggested for Mim is to have botox injections in her hamstrings.  Has anyone ever heard of this?  Anyone had it done before?  Her numbers are good, so that shouldn't be an issue.  Ortho doc is doing some research and I've emailed her PID to get his input.  She would have them done under general anesthsia every 3 - 6mths in conjunction with wearing ground-reactive AFOs.

Thanks for the feedback.
Mum

[newt]

The technique has good-modest effect for spasticity in appropriate cases and this will prob will wear of some weeks before the time for a repeat set of injections ie after 3-4 months (so on to round 2 etc etc etc). Sometimes one set of injections leads to permanent improvement, depends on the origin on the problem. Initial side effects may be short-term floppiness in the injected limbs and localised pain. The technique increases elasticity but not strength. Myobloc is an alternative agent and perhaps this is worth asking about. The FDA has neither approved nor rejected either as a treatment for children, the evidence being insufficient to decide. Therefore this is an off-label prescription, but one with a fairly wide degree of clinical use.

My only personal experience of this comes from a relative and post-stoke rehab which is a bit different to Mim I guess.

Hope this helps and happy 2012

- matt

[minismom]

Doc warned it won't help with her strength - hence the GRAFOs.  What he's hoping is that the injections will either lengthen the time until, or negate completely, the need for surgery.  He's also hoping that by relaxing the hamstring, it will help her re-align her ankles, knees, and hips since she won't have to compensate.  All of this in an effort to rid her of chronic joint pain (especially in her hips). After the injections, he'll see her in 3mths, then in another 3mths.  At the 1st 3mth visit, he'll schedule another round for after the 2nd 3mth visit.  If she doesn't need it, then he'll cancel the OR.  I'll ask about the Mybloc especially since I'm not too keen on having botchulism injected into her regardless of her numbers.

As always, gorgeous, thanks for the info.  2012 has already had a very *interesting* start.

Blessings!
Mum

[liketheboat]

I work in a Pain mangement clinic and we use Botox quite often for situations like that. It works well to imobolize the muscle to give it time to heal, i have also seen it work well on muscles that are in a constant state of spasm. It does seem to work better on some patients than others. and can be quite expensive. i think that our cost is about $950.00 for one vile of botox, and it does not have a very long shelf life. some insurances do not like to pay for it, so i would check with your insurance carrier before you decided to proceed with this treatment.