Treatment of Acquired Deforming Hypertonia with Botulinum Toxin in Older Population: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Acquired deforming hypertonia (ADH) affects the daily care of numerous nursing home residents. The aim of this study was to analyze the practice, aims, and effectiveness of botulinum toxin injections (BTxis) in the treatment of older patients with contractures, an indication for which BTxis are still underused. Data were extracted retrospectively from medical records regarding population, contractures, and injections. A prospective analysis was conducted to evaluate treatment goals set by goal attainment scaling (GAS) at T0 and at T1, to evaluate the therapeutic effects. We also recorded the occurrence of side effects, using a telephone questionnaire. This study included 41 patients older than 70 years who had received one or more BTxis for the first time between January 2018 and December 2021. Most of the older people we included lived in an institution (66%), manifested severe dependence, and presented significant morbi-mortality (37% of the patients died in the year after the last injection). The main objectives of these injections were purely comfort, without any functional goals. The GAS scores suggested effectiveness for comfort GAS scores. No complications were recorded. This study highlights the BTxis potential to address the needs of a larger number of older patients with ADH.

Keywords

• acquired deforming hypertonia
• contracture
• botulinum toxins
• older people