Open Label Assessment of Botulinum Toxin A for Pain Treatment in a Private Outpatient Setting

Abstract

Objective: To determine efficacy and injection characteristics of botulinum toxin A [BTXA] treatment for refractory muscular pain in a private outpatient setting.

Methods: Medical records were analyzed retrospectively for a sample 44-patient cohort who received BTXA injections for refractory muscular pain between 1/1/96 and 12/31/98.

Results: Eighty percent of all patients reported reduced pain from the initial BTXA treatment. Thirty-two percent required one repeat injection and 27% received three or more.

Conclusion: These data suggest that BTXA may reduce focal muscular pain, and in many cases, the benefit outlasts the expected action of the toxin.

KEYWORDS:

• Myofascial pain syndrome
• spinal pain
• botulinum toxin
• trigger point injections
• therapeutic injections