Toxins 2013, 5(1), 93-105; doi:10.3390/toxins5010093
Article

Influence of Botulinum Toxin Therapy on Postural Control and Lower Limb Intersegmental Coordination in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy

Marc Degelaen 1,2 email, Ludo de Borre 1,3 email, Eric Kerckhofs 4 email, Linda de Meirleir 5 email, Ronald Buyl 6 email, Guy Cheron 7 email and Bernard Dan 1,3,7,* email
1 Centre d'Analyse du Mouvement, Hôpital Brugmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels B-1020, Belgium 2 Revalidatie Ziekenhuis Inkendaal, Vlezenbeek B-1602, Belgium 3 Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels B-1020, Belgium 4 Department of Rehabilitation Research, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels B-1020, Belgium 5 Universitair Ziekenhuis Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels B-1020, Belgium 6 Dienst Biostatistiek en Informatica, Faculteit Geneeskunde en Farmacie, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels B-1020, Belgium 7 Unité de Recherche de Neurophysiologie et de Biomécanique du. Mouvement (CP 168), Faculté des Sciences de la Motricité, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels B-1070, Belgium
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 17 September 2012; in revised form: 12 December 2012 / Accepted: 5 January 2013 / Published: 11 January 2013
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clinical Use of Botulinum Toxins)
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Abstract: Botulinum toxin injections may significantly improve lower limb kinematics in gait of children with spastic forms of cerebral palsy. Here we aimed to analyze the effect of lower limb botulinum toxin injections on trunk postural control and lower limb intralimb (intersegmental) coordination in children with spastic diplegia or spastic hemiplegia (GMFCS I or II). We recorded tridimensional trunk kinematics and thigh, shank and foot elevation angles in fourteen 3–12 year-old children with spastic diplegia and 14 with spastic hemiplegia while walking either barefoot or with ankle-foot orthoses (AFO) before and after botulinum toxin infiltration according to a management protocol. We found significantly greater trunk excursions in the transverse plane (barefoot condition) and in the frontal plane (AFO condition). Intralimb coordination showed significant differences only in the barefoot condition, suggesting that reducing the degrees of freedom may limit the emergence of selective coordination. Minimal relative phase analysis showed differences between the groups (diplegia and hemiplegia) but there were no significant alterations unless the children wore AFO. We conclude that botulinum toxin injection in lower limb spastic muscles leads to changes in motor planning, including through interference with trunk stability, but a combination of therapies (orthoses and physical therapy) is needed in order to learn new motor strategies.
Keywords: Botulinum toxin; cerebral palsy; postural control; intersegmental coordination

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MDPI and ACS Style

Degelaen, M.; de Borre, L.; Kerckhofs, E.; de Meirleir, L.; Buyl, R.; Cheron, G.; Dan, B. Influence of Botulinum Toxin Therapy on Postural Control and Lower Limb Intersegmental Coordination in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy. Toxins 2013, 5, 93-105.

AMA Style

Degelaen M, de Borre L, Kerckhofs E, de Meirleir L, Buyl R, Cheron G, Dan B. Influence of Botulinum Toxin Therapy on Postural Control and Lower Limb Intersegmental Coordination in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy. Toxins. 2013; 5(1):93-105.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Degelaen, Marc; de Borre, Ludo; Kerckhofs, Eric; de Meirleir, Linda; Buyl, Ronald; Cheron, Guy; Dan, Bernard. 2013. "Influence of Botulinum Toxin Therapy on Postural Control and Lower Limb Intersegmental Coordination in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy." Toxins 5, no. 1: 93-105.

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