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Intrathecal Baclofen for Intractable Spinal Spasticity – a Double-blind Cross-over Comparison with Placebo in 6 Patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

H. Hugenholtz*
Affiliation:
Ottawa General Hospital, Royal Ottawa Rehabilitation Centre, Ottawa
R.F. Nelson
Affiliation:
Ottawa General Hospital, Royal Ottawa Rehabilitation Centre, Ottawa
E. Dehoux
Affiliation:
Ottawa General Hospital, Royal Ottawa Rehabilitation Centre, Ottawa
R. Bickerton
Affiliation:
Ottawa General Hospital, Royal Ottawa Rehabilitation Centre, Ottawa
*
Ottawa General Hospital, Room 6353, 501 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada KIH 8L6
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Abstract:

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A group of six subjects with intractable spinal spasticity completed a double-blind cross-over paradigm in which they received two intrathecal bolus injections of baclofen solution five hours apart on two different days and two intrathecal bolus injections of placebo saline five hours apart on two other days. Each subject was repeatedly tested with a battery of clinical and physiological tests. In contrast to the placebo injections, the group responded to the baclofen injections with subjective and objective, clinically significant improvement in parameters of spasticity in their lower limbs, including muscle tone, frequency of spasms, hyperreflexia and passive range of joint motion. Furthermore, this improvement was maintained following thirty consecutive days of intrathecal bolus injections of baclofen at a fixed dose.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation 1992

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