USE AND ADVERSE EFFECTS OF BOTULINUM TOXIN IN
MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN WITH SPASTIC CEREBRAL PALSY
ALEXANDRU ULICI1,2*, ALIN-GABRIEL STERIAN1,2, IULIA TEVANOV1, MIHAI-BOGDAN POPESCU1
1“Grigore Alexandrescu” Clinical Emergency Hospital for Children, Bucharest, Romania
2“Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
*corresponding author: alexandruulici@yahoo.com
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Abstract:
Botulinum toxin is an important element in the therapeutic arsenal used in the treatment of spastic cerebral palsy. Blocking
the neuromuscular plate allows spasticity removal in the involved muscle groups and facilitates the physical-therapy
treatment. The paper highlights the main therapeutic indications of the botulinum toxin and its adverse reactions in treating
children with spastic cerebral palsy. The adverse effects of the toxin, both local and general, are not linked to the orthopaedic
use, occurring regardless of the pathology. Even though adverse effects are scarce they must be known in order to prevent
additional and costly treatments. A study on 1872 patients was conducted over a period of 12 years. Effects of botulinum
toxin were assessed at the first, second and third use. For each patient no more than three doses were used. The use of
botulinum toxin is very effective in treating spastic cerebral palsy in children if the injection criterion is respected along with
the technical principles. Adverse effects are minimal and do not pose the problem of applying additional therapies.

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