Perspectives on the pharmacological management of dystonia

Introduction: Treatment of dystonia is particularly complex due to various etiologies and heterogeneous clinical manifestation, as well as different degrees of disability. In absence of causative treatment, all symptomatic therapy should be predominantly tailored to ameliorate those symptoms (motor and non/motor) that mostly affect patients' daily life and regular activities. Many different treatment options, including oral medications, neurosurgical interventions, physical and occupational therapy are available in treatment of dystonia.Areas covered: The aim of this perspective is to point out different possibilities in pharmacological management of dystonic movements. Due to pure clinical presentation, the authors concentrate mainly on the isolated dystonias, which are presented solely as dystonic movements. Combined and complex dystonias are not instructive due to compound clinical presentation and consequently, complicated treatment. The article is based on a literature search from sources including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PiCarta, and PsycINFO.Expert opinion: Although dystonia therapy should be adapted according to the individual needs, severity, age, type, symptoms distribution and acceptable side-effect profile, certain principles should be followed to reach the optimal result. Furthermore, the authors believe that a better understanding of the pathophysiology of dystonia will bring with it the development of new and improved treatment approaches and medications.