Spasmodic increase in muscle tone

Introduction The tension in the state of static relaxation of the muscle is called muscle tension. Muscle tone is the basis for maintaining various postures and normal movements of the body and is manifested in various forms. When passively moving a patient's joint, a sense of impedance occurs in the case of increased muscle tone, which is related to the speed of being exercised. When the muscles in the shortened state are quickly drawn, they immediately cause contraction and feel paralyzed state. When the force is stretched to a certain extent, the resistance suddenly disappears, that is, the so-called knives-like muscle tension is increased. Increased spastic muscle tension is not related to "sputum", which refers to an involuntary muscle contraction.

Cause

Damage to the central nervous system can be caused by various causes. Increased spasm of the sacral muscles is associated with damage to the cone, and spinal cord reflexes are facilitated. Cone system lesions showed increased tendon muscle tone, characterized by increased muscle tone selectivity, upper limbs with adductor, flexor and pronator muscles, lower limbs with extensor muscle tension predominance; extrapyramidal lesions Increases myotonic muscle tone.

an examination

Related inspection

Myoglobin muscle tone test

Muscle tone measurement: Children with young age often do the following tests:

1 Hardness: When the muscle tension is increased, the muscle hardness is increased, and the passive activity is a feeling of tightness and firmness. When the muscle tension is low, the muscles that are touched are soft, and when passive, there is no resistance.

2 Swing degree: Fix the proximal end of the limb, make the distal joint and limb swing, observe the swing amplitude, the swing is small when the muscle tension is increased, the resistance is low when the muscle tension is low, and the swing is large.

3 joint extension: observe the extension and flexion angle when passively flexing and flexing the joint. When the muscle tension is elevated, the joint extension and flexion are limited, and when the muscle tension is low, the joint is overextended.

Differential diagnosis

Differential diagnosis of spasmodic muscle tension:

1. Congenital myogenicity (congenital paramyotonia): also known as Eulenberg disease. The disease only shows an increase in muscle tone during exercise and a normal muscle tension at rest. The muscle tension of this disease is increased, and the muscle tonic contraction is seen at the beginning of exercise, and it returns to normal after repeated exercise. At the time of palpation, the muscles have a special toughness, which is hard like a rubbery skin. It is obvious when the muscles are contracted after mechanical stimulation.

2. Stiff mandy syndrome (stiffmansyndrome): is an epileptic seizure of unknown etiology. The muscle tension of the neck muscles, trunk, back bones, and abdominal muscles is obvious, and the pain is stimulated by the outside world. Sniper, sound and light, mental stress, etc. can be induced and aggravated. The common proximal extremities begin to develop toward the body, and the muscle strength and tendon reflexes are normal. The symptoms of stiffness disappear during sleep.

3. Increased tonic muscle tone: The resistance encountered in passively moving patients' limbs is generally smaller than that of sputum, but it has no relationship with the length of the muscle at that time, ie, the contraction morphology. There is no difference between the extensor and the flexor. Regardless of the speed, amplitude, and direction of the action, the same resistance is encountered. This increase in muscle tone is called lead-like tonic, such as alternating loose and tight changes due to tremor, called gear-like rigidity.

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