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World J Clin Cases. Jul 16, 2017; 5(7): 270-279
Published online Jul 16, 2017. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v5.i7.270
Practical approach to the patient with acute neuromuscular weakness
Rajeev Nayak
Rajeev Nayak, Department of Neurology, Jabalpur Hospital and Research Centre, Jabalpur 482002, Madhyapradesh, India
Author contributions: Nayak R solely contributed to the article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict-of-interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Rajeev Nayak, Department of Neurology, Jabalpur Hospital and Research Centre, Russel Square, Jabalpur 482002, Madhyapradesh, India. rnayak@jabalpurhospital.com
Telephone: +91-0761-2450761 Fax: +91-0761-4036343
Received: January 28, 2017
Peer-review started: February 12, 2017
First decision: March 7, 2017
Revised: April 20, 2017
Accepted: May 12, 2017
Article in press: May 15, 2017
Published online: July 16, 2017
Processing time: 165 Days and 22.1 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Acute neuromuscular paralysis is a clinical syndrome characterized by rapid onset muscle weakness progressing to maximum severity within several days to weeks. It is a neurological emergency which requires immediate and careful investigations to determine the etiology because accurate diagnosis has significant impact on therapy and prognosis. Disorder is classified based on the site of defect in motor unit pathway, i.e., anterior horn cells, nerve root, peripheral nerve, neuromuscular junction or muscle. Identification of the cause is primarily based on a good medical history and detailed clinical examination supplemented with neurophysiologic investigations and sometimes few specific laboratory tests. Medical history and neurological examination should be focused on the onset, progression, pattern and severity of muscle weakness as well as cranial nerves testing and tests for autonomic dysfunction.