A practical overview of tizanidine use for spasticity secondary to multiple sclerosis, stroke, and spinal cord injury

ABSTRACTObjective: Tizanidine is an imidazoline central α2-adreno­ceptor agonist widely used to manage spasticity secondary to conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS), stroke, and spinal cord injury (SCI). While there is wide­spread use of tizanidine in clinical practice, little practical information is available to assist prescribers with the effective use of tizanidine for spasticity management. The aim of this review is to provide an up-to-date overview of tizanidine and its use in the management of spasticity associated with acquired (SCI), static (stroke), and progressive neurological (MS) diseases.Scope: An unfiltered literature search of the term ‘tizanidine’ was undertaken on the Medline database resulting in 311 papers. As the review focused on tizanidine clinical pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and tolerability, with comparisons limited to the oral antispastic agents baclofen, diazepam, and dantrolene, 53 articles were selected for detailed assessment.Findings: Tizanidine, an α2-adrenoceptor agon...