The effectiveness and safety of botulinum toxin injections for the treatment of sialorrhea with Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Botulinum toxin (BoNT) injection is an important adjunctive method to treat sialorrhea. The purpose of this systematic review was to analyze the effect and safety of BoNT injections in the intervention of sialorrhea with Parkinson’s disease (PD). METHODS: We searched PubMed, Web Of Science (WOS), Scopus, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Embase from inception until April 2022. Randomized controlled trials or randomized crossover trials comparing BoNT with placebo in sialorrhea with PD were eligible. PRISMA guidelines were used to carry out the meta-analysis. The Drooling Severity Frequency Scale (DSFS) score and the number of adverse events (AEs) were the primary and secondary outcomes, respectively. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and risk differences (RDs) are used to express continuous and categorical outcomes, respectively. Heterogeneity among these studies was evaluated using I(2) tests. We used the GRADE tool to assess the certainty of evidence (COE). RESULTS: Eight articles involving 259 patients compared BoNT injections with a placebo for PD with sialorrhea. This meta-analysis showed a significant reduction in DSFS scores between BoNT injections and placebo (SMD=-0.98; 95% CI, -1.27 to 0.70, p<0.001; COE: high). This meta-analysis showed a significant difference in AEs between BoNT injections and placebo (RD=0.15; 95% CI, 0.05 to 0.24, p=0.002; COE: low). CONCLUSIONS: The pooled results suggest that BoNT injections have some effect on DSFS scores with sialorrhea caused by PD. There are also mild adverse events, which generally recover within a week or so. The results indicate that BoNT injection is one of the treatments for sialorrhea caused by PD, but we need to pay attention to adverse events. In addition, the follow-up time was extended to observe oral hygiene, ulceration or dental caries, and digestive function. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Our review protocol was registered on PROSPERO (42021288334). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40360-023-00694-7.