MONDAY, Aug. 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) — For children with cerebral palsy (CP), a single injection of botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT-A) into the calf muscles does not affect the gross energy cost of walking, according to a study published online July 26 in Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology.
Siri Merete Brændvik, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, and colleagues conducted a quadruple-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial involving 61 children with spastic CP and classified in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I and II. Participants were randomly allocated to single injections of BoNT-A or 0.9 percent saline into the calf muscles.
The researchers found that the mean change in energy cost did not differ significantly between the groups at the primary time point of 12 weeks or at four weeks or 24 weeks after the injection. There was some evidence for a larger reduction in pain intensity for participants receiving BoNT-A with respect to secondary end points of walking capacity, habitual physical activity, perceived change in mobility tasks, and calf pain.
“The results suggest that BoNT-A injected into the calf muscles may reduce pain in children with CP classified in GMFCS levels I and II, although this requires further research,” the authors write.
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