Botulinum toxin in cerebral palsy

The treatment with Botulinum toxin A of spastic and dystonic movement disorders in children with cerebral palsy is an internationally established interventional therapeutic procedure. For a number of indications therapy successes were demonstrated on the level of body structure and function (reduction of muscle tone), and beneficial results are more and more documented on the activity level (e.g. improvement of gait or hand function). Ideally, treatment should be supplied by an interdisciplinary team. For evaluation purposes, individual goal attainment scaling and standardized video assessments are well suited. While reduction of muscle tone in spastic motor disorders can be regularly achieved on a high level of evidence, the long-term functional outcomes are less well examined and insufficiently understood.