Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Oct 18, 2020; 11(10): 453-464
Published online Oct 18, 2020. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v11.i10.453
Long-term effect of intrathecal baclofen treatment on bone health and body composition after spinal cord injury: A case matched report
Dora E Ifon, Mina P Ghatas, John C Davis, Refka E Khalil, Robert A Adler, Ashraf S Gorgey
Dora E Ifon, Mina P Ghatas, John C Davis, Refka E Khalil, Ashraf S Gorgey, Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders Center, Central Virginia VA Health Care System, Richmond, VA 23249, United States
Robert A Adler, Medical Service, Central Virginia VA Health Care System, Richmond, VA 23249, United States
Robert A Adler, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298, United States
Ashraf S Gorgey, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298, United States
Author contributions: All authors contributed to the writing and revising of the manuscript.
Supported by the DoD-CDRMP, No. W81XWH-14-SCIRP-CTA.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ashraf S Gorgey, PhD, Physiotherapist, Professor, Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders Center, Central Virginia VA Health Care System, 1201 Broad Rock Boulevard, Richmond, VA 23249, United States. ashraf.gorgey@va.gov
Received: June 2, 2020
Peer-review started: June 2, 2020
First decision: July 4, 2020
Revised: July 15, 2020
Accepted: September 10, 2020
Article in press: September 10, 2020
Published online: October 18, 2020
Core Tip

Core Tip: The long-term effects of intrathecal baclofen treatment (IBT) on bone mineral density and body composition profile were investigated in a man with spinal cord injury compared to two matched participants with different age and time since injury. Bone mineral density loss was greater at the distal femur and proximal tibia compared to the matches without IBT. Furthermore, the case had greater percentage leg fat mass and lower percentage lean mass compared to both matches. The negative side effects of IBT implantation warrant further studies considering the prevalence of osteoporosis related fractures, cardiovascular diseases, and metabolic disorders in this population.