Botulinum Toxin Treatment for Sialorrhea: Evaluation in Patients with Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease

Abstract

INTRODUCTION[|]The present study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of botulinum toxin A (BONT-A) injection therapy on a group of patients with Idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD)-associated sialorrhea.[¤]METHODS[|]A retrospective analysis of 21 patients with sialorrhea and IPD treated with BoNT-A at our neurology outpatient clinic was conducted between June 2017- December 2018. BoNT-A was injected into the parotid glands without ultrasound guidance. Pre-treatment sialorrhea severity was quantified according to the Drooling Frequency and Severity Scale (DFSS) and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) part 2 item 6 Demographic characteristics of all the patients were recorded. Patients were summoned before the injection, one week after the injection, one month after the injection and three months after the injection and adverse effects on patients associated with the medical treatment were evaluated.[¤]RESULTS[|]A significant decrease in the UPDRS and DSFS scores was observed when the 1st week, 1st month and 3rd months after the procedure are evaluated. However, the DSFS and UPDRS scores were significantly lower in the 1st month after the injection with regards to the 3rd month after the injection. No serious side effects were observed in the patients.[¤]DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION[|]In this study, it is demonstrated that BoNT-A injection is simple, safe, tolerable and effective in sialorrhea treatment of patients with IPD. However, further clinical studies involving longer-term follow-up and a larger number of patients are required to confirm and extend our results.[¤]

Keywords

• botulinum toxin a
• idiopathic parkinson's disease; sialorrhea.