IBS & Botox

[sprendiville]

Is Botox used to help IBS sufferers? If so do you have information I could use for a presentation for an HND Applied Science (Beauty Therapy). Many thanks

[incitatus]

I've not found a direct reference to this use, but as it is used for spasm alleviation and chronic pain elsewhere the chances are good. For some industry-related info on it go to http://www.biospace.com/navigate/search.cfm?range=
news&search=1&showmore=on&searchstring=botox&SR=21

[Herodotus]

Sounds unlikely. Botox is given to very specific points to paralyse specific nerves - it would be impossible to get to such points within the gut without paralysing it entirely. Failure to be able to swallow at all is a reported side effect of injections that have gone wrong. You could try looking up more info by searching for Botulism or the manufacturer (used to be a company called Allergan - not sure if it still is)

[forestqueen]

I found this on an IBS bulletin board.http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1 ;t=038918 I had previously read about it in a newpaper and even found the names of docs in the U.S. who did this, but have since lost the list. 1: Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2001 May;13(5):603-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&d b=PubMed&list_uids=11396545&dopt=Abstract&holding=f1000 Indications and efficacy of botulinum toxin in disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. Mandal A, Robinson RJ. Leicester General Hospital, UK. [email protected] In recent years, botulinum toxin type A (BT) has been found to be effective in the treatment of various spastic disorders of smooth muscle in the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract. The short-term efficacy of intrasphincteric injection of BT in achalasia is now well established, however, because of the chronic nature of the disease, patients will require repeated injections at regular intervals. In contrast, after a single injection into the anal sphincter, BT has impressively high healing rate with minimal side effects. BT remains a novel therapeutic approach in a range of other gastrointestinal motility disorders including diffuse oesophageal spasm, sphincter of Oddi dysfunction and anismus, and the list of its indications is increasing. BT seems to be safe but as its long-term effects remain unestablished, it should be used with caution in younger patients. In this review we discuss the mechanism of action, indications, efficacy and side-effects of BT with its use in various areas of gastrointestinal tract. Publication Types: * Review * Review, Tutorial PMID: 11396545 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]