Treatment of Sialorrhea with Botulinum Toxin A Injection in Children

Aims: We aimed to evaluate the effectivity and safety of botulinum toxin A (BT-A) to reduce sialorrhea in children with hypersalivation due to neurological diseases. Methods: Patients who had a complaint of severe sialorrhea were included in the study. Drooling severity of the patients was evaluated using the classification of Thomas-Stonell and Greenberg. The frequency of aspiration before and after the procedure was recorded. The 24-hour saliva amount and mean duration of two consecutive aspirations were recorded. BT-A was injected into the bilateral parotid and submandibular glands by a otorhinolaryngologist under the guidance of ultrasound guidance (USG). Results: When patients' mean drooling severity scores, drooling frequency scores, mean duration of two consecutive aspirations, and amount of saliva collected before and after procedure were compared, a statistical significance was observed. One-year hospital records before after and injection were examined and it was observed that after BT-A injection, hospital visits were statistically significantly low (P = 0.017). Conclusion: BT-A injection into salivary glands is well tolerated, is minimally invasive, has low complication rates and should be performed into both parotid and submandibular glands under USG. Although there is still no consensus on the ideal dose and frequency of injections, it is thought that a dose of 1U/kg/gland can be used with safety in pediatric age groups and the dimensions of the salivary glands and quantitative measurements of the amount of saliva should be utilized. Larger studies involving more patients are required in order to constitute a standard injection protocol.