Treatment

A variety of different drugs may be used in the treatment of spasticity including diazepam, baclofen and dantrolene sodium. All of these drugs result in muscle weakness.

Tizanidine is a relatively new drug used in the treatment of spasticity. It appears to be slightly better tolerated than other oral drugs (diazepam and baclofen). Also muscle weakness is less likely to occur than with treament with baclofen or diazepam (1).

There is no convincing evidence of a superior efficacy of any of the oral drug treatments (diazepam, baclofen, tizanidine) for spasticity (2).

Reference:

• 1) Wallace JD (1994). Summary of combined analysis of controlled clinical trials with tizanidine. Neurology 44 (Suppl 9), s60-9.
• 2) Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (2000), 38 (6), 44-6.