Unilateral Decorticate Posturing
This posture implies a destructive lesion of the corticospinal tracts within or very near the cerebral hemispheres.
Unilateral decorticate posturing. When unilateral this is the posture of chronic spastic hemiplegia. The legs are extended and internally rotated. Unilateral decerebrate or decorticate postures can be seen and are an indication of a unilateral lesion.
Decorticate posturing is also called decorticate response decorticate rigidity flexor posturing or colloquially mummy baby. 1 it is a clinically useful lateralizing sign particularly when complex partial seizures do not generalize version and focal clonic movements are good lateralizing signs for complex partial seizures becoming generalized. With concurrent brain stem and cerebral damage decerebrate rigidity may affect only the arms with the legs remaining flaccid.
The two postures may also alternate as the patient s neurologic status fluctuates. Description causes and risk factors a unilateral or bilateral postural change consisting of the upper extremities flexed and adducted and the lower extremities in rigid extension. Decorticate posture involves a form of posturing where a person s arms are bent and stiff their legs are straight out and their fists are clenched.
The feet are plantar flexed. It is always contralateral to the side of the predominant ictal discharge which is generally the side where the seizure started. The patient exhibits bilateral adduction of the shoulders pronation and flexion of the elbows and wrists and extension internal rotation and plantar flexion of the.
De kor tĭ kāt abnormal flexor posturing of the limbs indicative of a lesion in the cerebral hemispheres or disruption of the corticospinal tracts. Decorticate posture is also a sign of severe damage to the person s brain. Decorticate posturing is a posturing that indicates a severe damage in the brain.
These are reflex motor movements as opposed to functional motor actions that aim to minimize or escape a painful stimulus. Decorticate posture is an abnormal posturing in which a person is stiff with bent arms clenched fists and legs held out straight. Patients with decorticate posturing present with the arms flexed or bent inward on the chest the hands are clenched into fists and the legs extended and feet turned inward.