Opisthotonos

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Overview

Treatment

Opisthotonos

Home Care:

Hospital care is required for a person who develops opisthotonos.

Call your health care provider if:

Go to the emergency room, or see your physician immediately if this symptom occurs! Typically, however, opisthotonos is a symptom that follows late in the course of other conditions which are serious enough that medical attention will already have been sought.

What to expect at your health care provider's office:

This condition will be evaluated in a hospital setting. Emergency measures will be taken as appropriate.

The medical history will be obtained, and a physical examination will be performed.

Medical history questions documenting opisthotonos in detail may include:

When did this behavior start?
Is it always the same type of posturing?
What other symptoms preceded or accompanied the abnormal posturing (particularly fever, stiff neck, headache, but also any others)?
Is there any significant medical history (such as a recent illness)?

The physical examination will include a complete assessment of the nervous system.

The cause of the opisthotonos will be suggested by the history and physical examination. Diagnostic tests may include:

Lumbar puncture and analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF culture, CSF cell counts, and similar studies), electrolyte analysis
CT scan of the head
MRI of the head
Blood and urine tests

Review Date: 7/28/2005
Reviewed By: Kevin Sheth, M.D., Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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