View source for Trousseau sign of latent tetany

[[Image:Troussau's_Sign_of_Latent_Tetany.jpg|thumb|widthpx|A hand being held similarly to Trousseau's sign.]]

Trousseau sign of latent tetany is a [[medical sign]] observed in patients with low [[calcium]].<ref>Kumar, Abbas, Fausto. ''Pathologic Basis of Disease, 7th edition.'' Philadelphia: Elsevier-Saunders, 2005. 1188.</ref> This sign may become positive before other gross manifestations of [[hypocalcemia]] such as [[hyperreflexia]] and [[tetany]], but is generally believed to be more sensitive than the [[Chvostek sign]] for hypocalcemia.{{Fact|date=April 2009}}

To elicit the sign, a [[blood pressure cuff]] is placed around the arm and inflated to a pressure greater than the [[systolic blood pressure]] and held in place for 3 minutes. This will occlude the [[brachial artery]]. In the absence of blood flow, the patient's hypocalcemia and subsequent neuromuscular irritability will induce spasm of the muscles of the hand and forearm. The wrist and [[metacarpophalangeal joint]]s flex, the [[distal interphalangeal joint|DIP]] and [[proximal interphalangeal joint|PIP]] joints extend, and the fingers [[adduction|adduct]]. The sign is also known as '''''main d'accoucheur''''' ([[French language|French]] for "''hand of the [[obstetrician]]''") because it supposedly resembles the position of an obstetrician's hand in delivering a baby.

The sign is named after French physician [[Armand Trousseau]] who described the phenomenon in 1861.<ref>Trousseau a. ''Clinique médicale de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Paris.'' Paris, 1861. Volume 2: 112-114.</ref> It is distinct from the [[Trousseau sign of malignancy]].

==References==
{{reflist}} 

{{Eponymous medical signs for endocrinology}}

[[Category:Medical signs]]


{{med-sign-stub}}

[[de:Trousseau-Zeichen]]
[[it:Segno di tetania latente di Trousseau]]
[[pl:Objaw Trousseau (klasyczny)]]
[[pt:Sinal de Trousseau de tetania latente]]
[[Category:2Fix]]