Botulinum toxin type A for refractory post-stroke shoulder pain

Botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) has been used to treat several neurological conditions such as sialorrhea, hyperhydrosis, dystonia, hemifacial spasm, spasticity and pain. Although spasticity has been successfully treated with BTX-A, few are the authors studying the use of BTX-A to treat shoulder pain secondary to stroke. In order to study if BTX-A is effective to treat post-stroke shoulder pain, we followed up during 4 months 16 patients with sustained shoulder pain. Patients received BTX-A according to previous discussion with the rehabilitation group to determine the muscles and dose to be injected and were evaluated by the join range of motion and analogic pain scale. There was decrease of pain during shoulder motion, mainly during the movements of extension and rotation. We conclude that BTX-A is a safe and efficacious therapy.