Purpose: To observe the efficacy of the combined treatment of carbamazepine and botulinum toxin A for blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm.
Methods: Fifty-eight patients with either blepharospasm or hemifacial spasm were randomly divided into treatment and control groups. In the treatment group, 30 patients were administered with local intramuscular injections of botulinum toxin A and oral carbamazepine 100 mg/time, 3 times a day for 60 days. Twenty-eight subjects in the control group underwent local intramuscular injections of botulinum toxin A only.
Results: After combined treatment, the complete remission rate was 90%, which was significantly higher than that of the of the control group (67.9%, P<0.05, X2=4.733). However, no statistical significance was noted regarding the duration of therapeutic effects between the treatment group (range 14~40 weeks; 19.2 weeks on average) and control group (range 12~36 weeks; 18 weeks on average).
Conclusion: The combined therapy of carbamazepine and topical injections of botulinum toxin A had increased efficacy in the treatment of blepharospasm or hemifacial spasm, but had no significant effect in terms of the duration of the therapeutic effect.