Martin Melišek, Ján Vanko
Spasticity is a condition of increased muscular tonus which is not possible to control by the will. It arises after insults in central nervous system, e.g. at sclerosis multiplex or after a spinal cord injury. The spasticity treatment is difficult whereby the pharmacological methods come to the fore, with the use of perorally administered baclefon. When the pharmacological treatment fails, surgical methods (orthopaedic and neurological) come to the account. Surgical methods, namely neurological ones, are destructive and irreversible, as interventions are done directly to the spinal cord. The spasticity treatment by intrathecal administering of baclofen is a modern method where baclofen is transported with the help of an implanted programmable drug pump into the intrathecal space, directly to nervous tissues, where it binds to GABA B receptors and by that effectively lowers the spasticity with exclusion of unfavourable effects. Being aware of possible complications, the treatment by intrathecally administered baclofen is safe, clinically effective, with a distinct potential of severe spasticity lowering.