Case Series of Botulinum Toxin Administered to Pregnant Patients and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate a case series of patients who received medically necessary botulinum toxin during pregnancy. Materials and Methods: Retrospective chart review of three patients who underwent repeated intralaryngeal injections of botulinum toxin during pregnancy. Chart reviews were also conducted on the children to further evaluate the safety. Results: No evidence of harm to the mothers or fetuses were found in our series, including data from pregnancy and birth records using standard measures of gestation, APGAR scores, neonatal intensive care unit stay, and time until discharge. Clinical data for 3-5 years were available for the children. No evidence of muscular weakness was noted and all diagnoses were listed. Conclusion: Botulinum toxin injection for functional airway issues was not associated with any adverse effects to the mother or fetus during pregnancy in any of the cases reviewed. We recommend further investigation to evaluate the current contraindication of elective botulinum toxin use in pregnancy.