Background and Purpose: Spasticity is a disabling complication of spinal cord injury (SCI). The administration of various medications is not satisfactory. Studies show the effects of onabotulinumtoxinA treatment for spasticity in patients with SCI. We designed this study to systematically review the effects of onabotulinumtoxinA toxin on spasticity status in patients with SCI.
Materials and Methods: PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and gray literature, including references and conference abstracts, were systematically searched by two researchers published before September 2023. Data regarding the total number of participants, first author, publication year, country of origin, mean age, follow-up time, the site of injection, main findings, and side effects were extracted and recorded.
Results: A literature search revealed 2914 articles. After deleting duplicates, 1688 remained. After careful evaluation of the full texts, six articles remained. Two studies reported improvement in the modified Ashworth scale after treatment, while one showed opposite results. Improvement of spasticity and spasticity-related pain was observed in one study, and a decrease in the modified Tardieu scale was found in another study. Improvement in upper-extremity function, positioning, and pain after treatment was shown in a study done in the USA.
Conclusion: The results of this systematic review show that administration of onabotulinumtoxinA toxin may improve spasticity in patients with SCI.