Clonus is a neurological condition causing involuntary muscle contractions. When it affects the ankle of the foot, it makes the ankle bend backward with involuntary and sudden movement. There are multiple reasons behind this condition, such as infections like meningitis and encephalitis, head trauma, multiple sclerosis, or serotonin syndrome. It can be treated by surgical intervention and physiotherapy.
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What can cause clonus in babies?
Query: Hi doctor, I noticed about a week ago that my 6 weeks old baby has ankle clonus. His feet sort of tap or twitch sometimes, especially when he raises them with knees bent like when he is straining to poop or I change his diaper. I am able to reproduce this by pressing on his feet just under his toes... Read Full »
Answer: Hi, Welcome to icliniq.com. 1. Ankle clonus of 3 to 5 beats is normal in infants. It usually goes away as child grows. 2. If your child has normal muscle tone of extremities, he is obtaining developmental milestone as schedule and there was no concern of injury at birth, then you can rest assured.... Read Full »
Is tongue fasciculations in a baby always a sign of SMA?
Query: Hello doctor, My son is 18 months old. He was born with ankle clonus, but it was completely gone after a while. So, he no longer has clonus. He also has possible tongue fasciculations. I say possibly because the pediatrician said that it was difficult to tell if they were or not. He is always sticki... Read Full »
Answer: Hello, Welcome to icliniq.com. You should know that tongue fasciculation do not have the same clinical significance in children as in adults. There are many abnormal neurological signs in adults which are usually present in normal children and disappear while growing up. This is because of an immat... Read Full »
When is ankle clonus abnormal in a child?
Query: Hello doctor, My two-month-old son has ankle clonus. When he is asleep, and I push on his foot, it sometimes goes over ten beats. When it happens on its own, it is much shorter. Is this something that should be further evaluated? Read Full »
Answer: Hi, Welcome to icliniq.com. If you are getting more than ten beats of ankle clonus, please get the child evaluated physically by a pediatric neurologist. In such cases, based on physical examination, your child may require an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) brain or USG (ultrasonography) of the b... Read Full »
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