Medical treatment of dystonia

Abstract

The treatment of dystonia is exclusively difficult. Recently botulinum toxin has been introduced into the market, but its indication is still limited. Oral administration of high dosage of anticholinergic drugs is firstly recommended for the treatment of dystonia. Effective cases usually do not show obvious side effects. Likely, diazepam is another choice, and the drug usually does not bring any adverse effect in cases with good results. Effects of other drugs such as 1-dopa and antidopaminergic agents are still under discussion. In cases with myoclonus and/or tremor clonazepam can be useful for improvement of the phasic symptoms. As the prognosis of dystonia especially that of focal dystonia is not hopeless, the patients with dystonia should be informed of the facts.