Belly Dancer's Dyskinesia: A Glimpse of a Rare Phenomenon

Abstract

Belly dancer's dyskinesia (BDD) is an extremely rare manifestation consisting of involuntary and repetitive rhythmic movements of the abdominal wall. These movements cannot be voluntarily suppressed but may be influenced by respiratory maneuvers. Investigations such as spinal cord and abdominal imaging usually fail to reveal any local abnormalities to explain the movement disorder.A 23-year-old male presented with sudden onset of undulating movements of the abdominal wall for the last two months after he took domperidone. There was no associated pain or effect of respiration. The movements used to subside during sleep. His radiological and hematological evaluations were inconclusive. The movements, however, subsided after administration of promethazine and clonazepam.The cause of BDD varies, making diagnosis difficult. One of the causes being drug induced but it has never been reported earlier by domperidone. Also, our report provides a possible way to manage BDD by clonazepam and promethazine.

Abdominal Wall Dyskinesia: Case Report

“…It is commonly used in the treatment of positive symptoms of schizophrenia as well as in managing post-chemotherapy nausea and vomiting [5]. Abdominal wall dyskinesia has a variety of etiologies, including idiopathic causes, drug inducement, post-abdominal surgery, pontine or extrapontine myelinolysis, or local trauma [2,6].…”

“…The diagnosis of belly dancer's dyskinesia is a clinical one, but fluoroscopy and electromyography can be done in addition, and brain and spinal cord imaging can be done to exclude other diagnoses [2]. Different case reports have demonstrated the effectiveness of diphenhydramine and diazepam [11], transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation [9], or phrenic nerve block when symptoms are resistant [2]. Acutely, the patient responded with improvement on clonazepam 1 mg t.i.d.…”

“…The clinical presentation of repetitive, dyskinetic, and involuntary motions of the anterior abdominal wall was first introduced as "belly dancer's dyskinesia" in 1990 [1,2]. Tardive dyskinesia, trauma, or pain of the affected region may be causative factors [3].…”

Belly dancer's dyskinesia in a 62‐year‐old man

“…2,4 The course is variable as it may be isolated attack lasting from minutes to hours or recurrent, chronic attacks. 2 In our patient, normal neurological examination and negative history of medications or surgeries all point to a likely idiopathic or functional etiology. Further investigations need to be done to exclude CNS tumors and to confirm the diagnosis.…”

Role of magnesium in abdominal wall dyskinesia.

“…1 In various case reports it is also termed as abdominal wall dyskinesia, intermittent bursts of abdominal jerky movements or diaphragmatic flutter. 2,3 Antony van Leeuwenhoek was the first person who described diaphragmatic flutter or belly dancer's syndrome in 1723. 4,5 Among others Victoria Patterson published a largest case series in 2011.…”