Hi there, I wonder if anyone can help me. Our 4-year old son is hemiplegic, with low muscle tone. His gross motor skills are excellent for his condition, although he battles with fine motor activities. His major problem is oral motor control - he can't speak, although he can produce a few sounds. He drools very badly and it is beginning to be a social problem for him, as he doesn't like to eat or attempt to drink in front of other children, and his clothes are always wet. His speech progress is much slower than we had hoped, although he does show gradual improvement. I would like to know whether there are any drugs which will control the drooling with minimal side-effects, and if anyone has had experience of them.

Trans-tympanic neurectomy is another surgical option for treating drooling. Goode and Smith and Frederick and Stewart have both reported 80% success rates with this procedure. Surgery consists of lifting a tympanomeatal flap, then locating and dividing the chorda tympani and the branches of the tympanic nerves. Failure to divide all the branches of the tympanic plexus will yield poor results. Fifty percent of patients have a hypotympanic branch of the tympanic plexus which is frequently covered by bone. Therefore, it is essential to drill down the inferior aspect of the promontory to complete this procedure. There are few complications associated with this procedure, although late recurrences of drooling may occur due to nerve regeneration. There has been concern that bilateral trans-tympanic neurectomies with resultant loss of taste would be tolerated poorly. However, a group of patients who had both chordae tympani divided had no loss of weight or appetite.
Think that will help you.