The effect of dantrium on spasticity of hemiplegic patients.

The effect of a new peripherally acting muscle relaxant drug Dantrium, on spasticity tested on 11 hemiplegic patients. The effect was evaluated both with regular clinical examination and with electromyographic technique. The latter concerned a quantitative analysis of the patients' voluntary control of fine neuromuscular activity both with and without the drug. The results indicated that spasticity was initially markedly reduced in the majority of the patients without, however, meaningfully increasing the daily-living functions of the patients. After a few months, the medication could be discontinued without any immediate increase in the spasticity. No severe side-effects were noted. In some cases, the medication had to be discontinued due to marked tiredness. Electromyographically, it was found that the ability of the patients to control fine neuromuscular activity with the paretic muscles was increased significantly with Dantrium, indicating that the reduction of the spasticity increased the ability for fine control of the muscles.