Pre-congress Workshop: Most Effective Interventions for Treating Spasticity

This event is designed for clinicians and researchers in the field of spasticity management, with a focus on advanced ultrasound and interventional techniques for muscle assessment, intervention, and education.
ISPRM Pre Spasticity “Most effective interventions for spasticity: focus on Muscle Workshop – High-Level Program
Date: May 17, 2026
Duration: 4 hours
Price: $249 for members; $299 for non-members

Morning Session
Moderator: Paul Winston
Theme: Nerve-Targeted Treatments to Guide Care
8:15 – 8:30 AM Faculty Introductions and Course Overview
Rajiv Reebye, Paul Winston
Welcome and orientation to the workshop
• Introduction of faculty and participants
• Overview of workshop objectives and structure
8:30 – 9:30 AM
Dr. Romain David (France) – Introduction to diagnostic nerve blocks (20 minutes)
Dr. Mirko Filippetti (Italy) – Diagnostic nerve blocks to predict the outcome of toxin therapy (20 minutes)
Dr. Heakyung Kim (USA) – Phenol as an enhanced nerve-targeted procedure with botulinum toxin (20 minutes)
9:30 – 9:40 AM Questions
9:40 – 11:00 AM
Dr. Paul Winston (Canada) – Clinical cases to select muscle targets using diagnostic nerve blocks; cryoneurolysis, tenotomy and fascial scraping (30 minutes)
Dr. Flavia Coroian (France) – Tenotomy (20 minutes)
Dr. Sheng Li (USA) – Long-term outcomes of cryoneurolysis (15 minutes)
Dr. Jonathan Bemporad (Italy) – Combining all the treatments (15 minutes)

11:00 – 11:15 AM Questions and stretch break

11:15 AM – 12:30 PM Ultrasound Demonstration of Nerve-Targeted Procedures, Tenotomy, and Fascial Release
Faculty: Eve Boissonnault, Paul Winston, Clay Guynn, Joshua Vova, Ibrahim Ali, Alfredo Rodriguez, Jose Pereira, Heakyung Kim, Flavia Coroian, Sheng Li, Dr. Jonathan Bemporad
12:30 – 1:30 PM Lunch

Afternoon Session
Chair: Rajiv Reebye
1:30 – 1:45 PM Pathophysiology of Muscle Changes in Spasticity
Prof. Rajiv Reebye (University of British Columbia), Prof. Stefano Carda (University of Lausanne)
Review of non-neural components in spasticity syndrome
• Pathophysiological changes in muscle architecture post-stroke and in spastic presentations
1:45 – 2:00 PM Clinical Applications of Ultrasound in Spasticity Management
Dr. Chloe Haldane (USA), Dr. Ana Paula Fonseca (Brazil)
• Role of ultrasound in teaching and curriculum development
• Integration of ultrasound into clinical practice to enhance interventional spasticity skills
2:00 – 2:15 PM Ultrasound for Targeting and Chemodenervation
Prof. Omar Khan (Canada), Dr. Bruno Guimarães (Portugal)
• Improving outcomes for botulinum toxin injections
• Ultrasound-guided chemodenervation techniques
2:15 – 2:30 PM Future Directions of Ultrasound in Clinical Spasticity Research
Prof. Alexander Geurts (University of Nijmegen)
2:30 – 2:45 PM Ultrasound, AI, and Emerging Technologies
Dr. Chueh-Hung Wu (Taiwan)
• Emerging technologies and AI in ultrasound for spasticity management
• Novel techniques and research opportunities
2:45 – 3:00 PM Questions
3:00 – 3:15 PM Break
3:15 – 5:15 PM Hands-On Advanced Ultrasound Muscle Workshop (Rotating Stations)
Participants will rotate through four interactive stations:
1. Assessment of Muscle Architecture
• Ultrasound B-scan imaging and Modified Heckmatt Scale
• Faculty: Prof. Rajiv Reebye, Prof. Stefano Carda, Prof. Alexander Geurts
• Multimodal treatment focus on non-neural muscle component (Dr. Stephen Ashford)
2. Clinical Application and Teaching
• Integration into clinical practice
• Faculty: Dr. Chloe Haldane, Dr. Ana Paula Fonseca
3. Ultrasound-Guided Chemodenervation (BoNT-A, Phenol)
• Faculty: Dr. Alexandre Camões Barbosa, Dr. Bruno Guimarães, Prof. Omar Khan
4. Future Techniques and Biomarkers
• EMG and Heckmatt Scale as biomarkers
• Fascia treatment: fasciotomy, cryotreatment (Dr. Sheng Li)
• AI integration (Dr. Chueh-Hung Wu)

COI
Unless noted below there are none. 
Paul J. Winston, MD – Disclosed honoraria and advisory board roles with Merz; payments to institutions
Ana Paula C. Fonseca, MD – Disclosed relationships with AbbVie, Ipsen, Merz
Bruno Guimaraes, MD, PhD – Disclosed speaking roles and scientific grant (Ipsen, Merz)
Eve Boissonnault, MD, FRCPC – Disclosed speaking role and grant support to institution (Merz, Pacira)