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77: Acute Weakness
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Published:May 2023
Sandra L. Gage, MD, PhD, FAAP, Amanda Reynolds, MD, FAAP, "Acute Weakness", Caring for the Hospitalized Child: A Handbook of Inpatient Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Hospital Medicine, Jeffrey C. Gershel, MD, FAAP, Daniel A. Rauch, MD, FAAP, SFHM
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Acute muscle weakness is the decreased ability to move muscles with or against resistance. It usually results from pathology anywhere in the neuromuscular system and may occur abruptly or evolve over the course of hours to days. Acute weakness can be life-threatening if it advances to include the respiratory muscles or is secondary to an intracranial process.
One of the most common causes of acute weakness in children is acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, also known as Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Acute COVID-19 disease has been linked to some cases of GBS.
Other common etiologies of acute weakness include viral myositis, intracranial...
