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Evidence summaries

Pharmacological Interventions for Spasticity Following Spinal Cord Injury

Intrathecal baclofen and oral tizanidine might possibly have some beneficial effects in patients with spasticity following spinal cord injury, but the data are insufficient. Level of evidence: "D"

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 9 studies. Two studies (n=14) showed a significant effect of intrathecal baclofen in reducing spasticity. One study comparing tizanidine to placebo showed a significant effect in improving Ashworth Score but not in ADL performances.

Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by inconsistency (heterogeneity in outcomes), by indirectness (differences in studied interventions), and by imprecise results (limited study size for each comparison).

    References

    • Taricco M, Adone R, Pagliacci C, Telaro E. Pharmacological interventions for spasticity following spinal cord injury. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2000;(2):CD001131. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords