Recurrent jaw dislocation after botulinum toxin treatment for sialorrhoea in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Botulinum toxin (BTX) has been used successfully to treat various movement disorders, and is increasingly used for many other medical conditions. Sial orrhoea is a disabling symptom in many neurological patients including thos e with Parkinson's disease, stroke and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). BTX has recently been shown to be effective for treating sialorrhoea. We report an ALS patient who developed recurrent jaw dislocation following BTX treatment for sialorrhoea to highlight the observation that intraparoti d BTX may be complicated by jaw dislocations in some at-risk ALS patients. Clinicians using BTX to treat sialorrhoea in ALS need to be aware of this p otentially serious complication. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.