Find in Library

Foot dystonia (FD) is a disabling condition causing pain, spasm and difficulty in walking. We treated fourteen (14) adult patients experiencing FD with onabotulinum toxin A injection into the dystonic foot muscles. We analyzed the spatiotemporal gait utilizing the GaitRite system pre- and 3 weeks post-botulinum toxin injection along with measuring dystonia by the Fahn&#8315;Marsden Dystonia Scale (FMDS), pain by the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and other lower limb functional outcomes such as gait velocity, the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the Unified Parkinson&#8217;s Disease Rating Scale&#8315;Lower Limb Score (UPDRS&#8315;LL), the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test and the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS). We found that stride length increased significantly in both the affected (<i>p</i> = 0.02) and unaffected leg (<i>p</i> = 0.01) after treatment, and the improvement in stride length was roughly the same in each leg. Similar results were found for step length (<i>p</i> = 0.02) with improvement in the step length differential (<i>p</i> = 0.01). The improvements in the lower limb functional outcomes were also significant&#8212;FMDS, VAS, TUG, and UPDRS&#8315;LL decreased significantly after treatment (all <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001), and BBS (<i>p</i> = 0.001), GAS (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001) except cadence (<i>p</i> = 0.37). BT injection improved walking in foot dystonia as evidenced through gait analysis, pain and lower limb functional outcomes. Main study limitations were small sample size and lack of control.