Botulinum Toxin Injection for the Treatment of Hemifacial Spasm-Technical Note

Jang, Il; Kim, Myeong-Jin; Yee, Gi-Taek; Yoo, Chan-Jong; Lee, Uhn; Kim, Eun-Young

Original article

Journal of the Korean Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery 2016;12(1):7-10.
Published online June 30, 2016.

Botulinum Toxin Injection for the Treatment of Hemifacial Spasm-Technical Note

Il Jang, Myeong-Jin Kim, Gi-Taek Yee, Chan-Jong Yoo, Uhn Lee, Eun-Young Kim

Department of Neurosurgery, Gachon University Gil Hospital, Incheon, Korea

Abstract

Objective
To introduce the botulinum toxin injection technique on the periocular area for the treatment of hemifacial spasm and report the treatment results. Materials and Methods: Thirteen sessions with five patients were performed with botulinum toxin therapy injected to the periocular area. Botulinum toxin was injected at four sites on the affected side at a dose of 2.5 unit botulinum toxin per site.
Results
All treated patients had symptom improvement. The degree of improvement measured on the visual analogue scale was 89.3%, and the average duration of the effect was 6.3 months. One patient had ptosis after his third session.
Conclusion
Botulinum toxin therapy is effective for the treatment of hemifacial spasm. Our patients were satisfied with the treatment results. Ptosis is the most common complication reported in the literature, but it can be avoided by preventing the spread of neurotoxin after the injection and avoiding inadvertent injections.

Key Words: Botulinum toxin, Hemifacial spasm, Outcome, Ptosis.