Article Text
PDF
Abstract
Increasing numbers of patients have an intrathecal baclofen pump implanted as part of spasticity management. Neurologists may be asked about the management of these devices when patients attend emergency departments for unrelated illnesses. Occasionally, the intrathecal baclofen system itself will directly lead to an acute presentation. Furthermore, the presence of an intrathecal baclofen pump needs consideration when requesting investigations, particularly MR imaging. This review aims to increase understanding of intrathecal baclofen treatment, highlighting serious complications and outlining considerations for routine investigations. Neurologists may still need advice from the intrathecal baclofen specialist team.
- intrathecal baclofen
- multiple sclerosis
- stroke
- myelopathy
- cerebral palsy
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Footnotes
Contributors MSB and VLS wrote the manuscript and revisions.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests VLS has acted as a consultant and advisory board member for both GW Pharmaceuticals and Medtronic.
Provenance and peer review Commissioned; externally peer reviewed by Stephen Kirker, Cambridge, UK.
Linked Articles
- Editors’ commentary
Read the full text or download the PDF:
Other content recommended for you
- Colonic perforation by an intrathecal baclofen pump catheter causing delayed Escherichia coli meningitis
- Intrathecal baclofen therapy in paediatrics: a study protocol for an Australian multicentre, 10-year prospective audit
- The need for and provision of intrathecal baclofen therapy for the management of spasticity in England: an assessment of the Hospital Episode Statistics database
- Intrathecal baclofen pumps in the management of hypertonia in childhood: a UK and Ireland wide survey
- The management of spasticity in adults
- Comparing the effects of two spasticity management strategies on the long-term outcomes of individuals with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy: a multicentre cohort study protocol
- Neurosurgical management of elevated tone in childhood: interventions, indications and uncertainties
- Spasticity: pathophysiology, evaluation and management
- Intrathecal baclofen therapy versus conventional medical management for severe poststroke spasticity: results from a multicentre, randomised, controlled, open-label trial (SISTERS)
- Cardiac arrest due to baclofen withdrawal syndrome