Medical treatment for botulism

Acute non-traumatic weakness may be life-threatening if it involves respiratory muscles or is associated with dysautonomia. Most patients presenting with an acute muscle weakness have a worsening neurologic disorder that requires a rapid, systematic approach, and detailed neurologic localization of the findings. In many patients, urgent laboratory tests are needed and may involve neuroimaging. Because acute weakness is a common presenting sign of neurological emergencies, it was chosen as an Emergency Neurological Life Support protocol. An inclusive list of causes of acute weakness is explored, both by presenting complaint and anatomical location, with an outline of the key features of the history, examination, investigations, and treatment for each diagnosis.

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Emergency Neurological Life Support: Acute Non-traumatic Weakness

Caulfield

Flower

Pineda

et al. 2017

Neurocrit Care

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Acute non-traumatic weakness may be life-threatening if it involves the respiratory muscles and/or is associated with autonomic dysfunction. Most patients presenting with acute muscle weakness have a worsening neurological disorder that requires a rapid, systematic evaluation and detailed neurological exam to localize the disorder. Urgent laboratory tests and neuroimaging are needed to confirm the diagnosis. Because acute weakness is a common presenting sign of neurological emergencies, it was chosen as an Emergency Neurological Life Support protocol. Causes of acute non-traumatic weakness are discussed here by both presenting clinical signs and anatomical location. For each diagnosis, key features of the history, examination, investigations, and treatment are outlined in the included tables or in the "Appendix".

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Medical treatment for botulism

Cited by 31 publications

References 31 publications