Guidelines for the Use of Botulinum Toxin in Otolaryngology From the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics Guideline Task Force

Abstract

The Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics created a task force to establish clinical practice guidelines for the use of botulinum toxin (BT) in otolaryngology. We selected 10 disease categories: spasmodic dysphonia, essential vocal tremor, vocal fold granuloma, bilateral vocal fold paralysis, Frey's syndrome, sialocele, sialorrhea, cricopharyngeal dysfunction, chronic sialadenitis, and first bite syndrome. To retrieve all relevant papers, we searched the CORE databases with predefined search strategies, including Medline (PubMed), Embase, the Cochrane Library, and KoreaMed. The committee reported 13 final recommendations with detailed evidence profiles. The guidelines are primarily aimed at all clinicians applying BT to the head and neck area. In addition, the guidelines aim to promote an improved understanding of the safe and effective use of BT by policymakers and counselors, as well as in patients scheduled to receive BT injections.

Keywords: Botulinum Toxins; Cricopharyngeal Dysfunction; Dysphonia; Esophageal Sphincter, Upper; Salivary Gland; Vocal Cord Paralysis.

Fig. 1.

Flow diagram for the literature search. KQ, key question.