ReviewEuropean journal of pediatrics2025
Response to salivary gland botulinum toxin injection does not predict success from surgery for sialorrhoea (drooling) in children with neurodisability.
Review in European journal of pediatrics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Drooling is a common problem in children with neurodisability, and refractory cases may require surgery. Our aim was to assess whether a child's response to salivary botulinum toxin injections would predict success or failure from subsequent surgical intervention. Retrospective case note review of all children undergoing drooling surgery between 1st January 2007 and 31st December 2023 at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow. Of all the children who underwent surgery for management of sialorrhoea, we identified 28 who had previously received salivary botulinum toxin injections. One early post-op death from respiratory causes was excluded. Caregivers reported success from surgery in 16 children (59%), defined as complete cessation of drooling or substantial improvement such that no other treatments were required. Surgery was successful in 3 out of 4 children (75%) for whom botulinum toxin injection had previously been successful, and 13 out of 23 (57%) for whom botulinum toxin injection had been ineffective. This difference is not statistically significant (Fisher's exact test p = 0.62).
conclusionMore than half of children who have not responded to salivary botulinum toxin injections will go on to have an excellent result from drooling surgery. Response to botulinum toxin should not be used to determine candidacy for surgery. WHAT IS KNOWN: • Poor control of saliva is a common cause of morbidity in childen with neurodisablity, and various treatments can be effective including botulinum toxin injections and salivary surgery. • It has been suggested that the respnse to salivary botulinum toxin can be used to decide which children might benefit from definitive salivary surgery. WHAT IS NEW: • Saliva reduction surgery is effective in the majority of children regardless of whether or not they previously had a good response to botulinum toxin injections.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40921852What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.