A Delphi-Based Consensus Statement on the Management of Anticoagulated Patients With Botulinum Toxin for Limb Spasticity

Chris Boulias, Farooq Ismail, Chetan P. Phadke, Stephen Bagg, Isabelle Bureau, Stephane Charest, Robert Chen, Albert Cheng, Karen Ethans, Milo Fink, Heather Finlayson, Sivakumar Gulasingam, Meiqi Guo, Muriel Haziza, Hossein Hosseini, Omar Khan, Michael Lang, Timothy Lapp, Robert Leckey, Rodney Li Pi ShanNathania Liem, Alexander Lo, Mark Mason, Stephen McNeil, Sonja McVeigh, Thomas Miller, Patricia B. Mills, Pierre Naud, Colleen O'Connell, Marc Petitclerc, Julie Prevost, Rajiv Reebye, Denyse Richardson, Lalith Satkunam, Satyendra Sharma, Christine Short, Genevieve Sirois, Milan Unarket, Theodore Wein, Kathryn Wilkins, Paul Winston

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: To create a consensus statement on the considerations for treatment of anticoagulated patients with botulinum toxin A (BoNTA) intramuscular injections for limb spasticity. Design: We used the Delphi method. Setting: A multiquestion electronic survey. Participants: Canadian physicians (N=39) who use BoNTA injections for spasticity management in their practice. Interventions: After the survey was sent, there were e-mail discussions to facilitate an understanding of the issues underlying the responses. Consensus for each question was reached when agreement level was ≥75%. Main Outcome Measures: Not applicable. Results: When injecting BoNTA in anticoagulated patients: (1) BoNTA injections should not be withheld regardless of muscles injected; (2) a 25G or smaller size needle should be used when injecting into the deep leg compartment muscles; (3) international normalized ratio (INR) level should be ≤3.5 when injecting the deep leg compartment muscles; (4) if there are clinical concerns such as history of a fluctuating INR, recent bleeding, excessive or new bruising, then an INR value on the day of injection with point-of-care testing or within the preceding 2-3 days should be taken into consideration when injecting deep compartment muscles; (5) the concern regarding bleeding when using direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) should be the same as with warfarin (when INR is in the therapeutic range); (6) the dose and scheduling of DOACs should not be altered for the purpose of minimizing the risk of bleeding prior to BoNTA injections. Conclusions: These consensus statements provide a framework for physicians to consider when injecting BoNTA for spasticity in anticoagulated patients. These consensus statements are not strict guidelines or decision-making steps, but rather an effort to generate common understanding in the absence of evidence in the literature.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2183-2189
Number of pages7
JournalArchives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume99
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2018

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Disclosures: Chris Boulias, Farooq Ismail, Chetan P Phadke, Robert Chen, Muriel Haziza, Kathryn Wilkins, Thomas Miller, Mark Mason, Lalith Satkunam, Christine Short, Genevieve Sirois, Theodore Wein, and Pierre Naud received funding (research grants, speaker fees, or honoraria) from Allergan; Chetan P Phadke, Farooq Ismail, Chris Boulias, Robert Chen, Muriel Haziza, Mark Mason, Lalith Satkunam, Christine Short, and Genevieve Sirois from Merz; Colleen O’Connell, Mark Mason, Lalith Satkunam, Genevieve Sirois, Theodore Wein, and Pierre Naud from Ipsen; and Isabelle Bureau from Leo Pharma, Pfizer Canada, and Sanofi. The other authors have nothing to disclose.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
  • Rehabilitation

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Boulias, C., Ismail, F., Phadke, C. P., Bagg, S., Bureau, I., Charest, S., Chen, R., Cheng, A., Ethans, K., Fink, M., Finlayson, H., Gulasingam, S., Guo, M., Haziza, M., Hosseini, H., Khan, O., Lang, M., Lapp, T., Leckey, R., ... Winston, P. (2018). A Delphi-Based Consensus Statement on the Management of Anticoagulated Patients With Botulinum Toxin for Limb Spasticity. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 99(11), 2183-2189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2018.04.023