Botulinum Neurotoxin for the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain

Gabriella Egeo; Luisa Fofi; Piero Barbanti

doi:10.3389/fneur.2020.00716

Botulinum Neurotoxin for the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain

Front Neurol. 2020 Aug 11:11:716. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2020.00716. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Gabriella Egeo¹, Luisa Fofi¹, Piero Barbanti^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Headache and Pain Unit, Department of Neurological, Motor and Sensorial Sciences, IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy.
² San Raffaele University, Rome, Italy.

Abstract

Botulinum neurotoxin is widely used for the treatment of central and peripherical neurological conditions. Initially used to treat strabismus, over the years its use has been expanded also to spasticity and other neurological disorders. This review summarizes the evidence from the published literature regarding its effect on neuropathic pain. Almost all investigations were performed using onabotulinum toxin type A (BoNT/A). Most studies provided positive results, even though toxin formulation, dose, dilution, injection techniques, and sites are heterogeneous across studies. Future larger, high-quality, specifically designed clinical trials are warranted to confirm botulinum neurotoxin efficacy in neuropathic pain.

Keywords: botulinum toxin; disability; neuropathic pain; pain treatments; visual analog scale.

Publication types

Review