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Spasticity

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Definition:

Spasticity is stiff or rigid muscles with exaggerated, deep tendon reflexes (for example, a knee-jerk reflex). The condition can interfere with walking, movement, or speech.

See also: Muscle spasticity

Alternative Names:

Muscle stiffness

Considerations:

Spasticity generally results from damage to the part of the brain that controls voluntary movement. It may also occur when you have damage to the nerves traveling from brain down to spinal cord.

Symptoms of spasticity include:

• Exaggerated deep tendon reflexes (the knee-jerk reflex)
• Scissoring (crossing of the legs as the tips of scissors would close)
• Repetitive jerky motions (clonus)
• Unusual posturing
• Carrying the shoulder, arm, wrist, and finger at an abnormal angle

Spasticity may also interfere with speech. Severe, long-term spasticity may lead to contracture of muscles, causing joints to be bent at a fixed position.

Common Causes:

• Cerebral palsy
• Brain damage caused by lack of oxygen, as can occur in near drowning or near suffocation
• Brain trauma
• Severe head injury
• Spinal cord injury
• Stroke
• Adrenoleukodystrophy
• Phenylketonuria
• Neurodegenerative illness
• Multiple sclerosis

This list is not all inclusive.

References:

Goetz, CG. Textbook of Clinical Neurology . 2nd ed. St. Louis, Mo: WB Saunders; 2003: 236, 247, 254.

Goldman L, Ausiello D. Cecil Textbook of Medicine . 22nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders; 2004:2324.

• Review Date: 3/5/2007
• Reviewed By: Daniel Kantor, M.D., Director of the Comprehensive MS Center, Neuroscience Institute, University of Florida Health Science Center, Jacksonville, FL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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