An Approach to Spasticity in Spinal Cord Injured Patients

Spasticity is a very common (53%-78%) complication among spinal cord injured patients that intereferes with their quality of life. It was recorded that the severity and frequency of spasticity is higher in incomplete patients than the complete patients. The spasticity evaluation measurements can be clinical, biomechanical or electrophysiological. Besides, in the literature some spesific measurements (SCATS, SCI-SET) were described only for this group of patients. The management of spasticity can be divided into non pharmacological, pharmacological or surgical treatment. The severity and localization of spasticity are important when deciding the treatment. If the spasticity is generalized oral medical agents, intratechal baclofen or surgical management can be treatment options besides nonpharmacological measures. Local treatments can be taken into consideration if spasticity effects only a few group of muscles locally. Local treatments include botulinum toksin-A injection, phenol block, alcohol and local anesthetic blocks. Turk J Phys Med Re-hab 2012;58 Suppl 1: 21-7.