BACKGROUND Spasticity is a common and debilitating symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS). Current treatments are effective, but may be difficult to tolerate for many patients. OBJECTIVE To determine if levetiracetam, a second-generation antiepileptic drug, may be useful for the treatment of spasticity in MS. METHODS A retrospective medical record review of patients attending the Multiple Scler...

OBJECTIVE To find out the effect of deep cross-friction massage on spasticity in children with cerebral palsy. METHODS This double-blind randomised controlled trial was conducted at the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Islamabad, Pakistan, from January to July 2013, and comprised paediatric patients with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy. The participants were equally divided into...

BACKGROUND The development of spasticity with age in children with cerebral palsy (CP) has, to our knowledge, not been studied before. In 1994, a register and a health care program for children with CP in southern Sweden were initiated. In the programme the child's muscle tone according to the modified Ashworth scale is measured twice a year until six years of age, then once a year. We have use...

Background: The development of spasticity with age in children with cerebral palsy (CP) has, to our knowledge, not been studied before. In 1994, a register and a health care program for children with CP in southern Sweden were initiated. In the programme the child's muscle tone according to the modified Ashworth scale is measured twice a year until six years of age, then once a year. We have us...

AIM Many studies have been performed on the methodological qualities of the (modified) Ashworth Scale but overall these studies seem inconclusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the construct validity and inter-rater reliability of the Ashworth Scale (AS) for the assessment of spasticity in the upper and lower extremities. METHOD A cross-sectional study on spasticity in the elbow fl...

Caregivers of persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) often describe the quality of the daily movements of these persons in terms of flexibility or stiffness. Objective outcome measures for flexibility and stiffness are muscle tone or level of spasticity. Two instruments used to grade muscle tone and spasticity are the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) and the Modified T...

background: this study evaluated the efficacy of focal intramuscular injection of botulinum (bont) toxin type a in comparison with oral tizanidine (tzd) in treatment of post-stroke upper limb spasticity. methods: this was a double-blinded randomized clinical trial that recruited 68 patients with post-stroke upper limb spasticity. thirty-four patients received bont (dysport(®)) injections in aff...

This was a prospective, repeat-treatment, open-label study (NCT01251380) of abobotulinumtoxinA for the management of lower limb spasticity in children who had completed a double-blind study. Children (2-17 years) received injections into the gastrocnemius-soleus complex, and other distal and proximal muscles as required (maximum total dose per injection cycle: 30 U/kg or 1000U). A total of 216 ...