Symptoms of tetanus

Tetanus is a relatively serious disease, mainly caused by infection with Clostridium tetani. There will be an incubation period after contracting tetanus, and the patient's condition will gradually develop. The incubation period is generally 7 to 8 days. The prognosis of this disease is generally poor, and sometimes it can even cause great harm to life safety. Let us take a look at the symptoms of tetanus.

Symptoms of tetanus

1. Prodromal symptoms

For those with a slower onset, there may be symptoms such as general fatigue, dizziness, headache, chewing weakness, local muscle tightness, pulling pain, and hyperreflexia before the onset of the disease.

2. Typical symptoms

The main manifestations are disinhibition of the motor nervous system, including muscle rigidity and muscle spasm. The first muscles to be affected are usually the muscles of mastication, followed in order by the muscles of facial expression, the neck, back, abdomen, limbs, and finally the diaphragm. The signs of muscle rigidity are difficulty opening the mouth and clenched jaws, abdominal muscles as hard as boards, stiff neck and head tilted back. When the back and abdominal muscles contract at the same time, the trunk is twisted into a bow because the back muscles are stronger, forming "opisthotonos" or "lateral opisthotonos". Paroxysmal muscle spasms occur on the basis of muscle rigidity, and muscle rigidity persists between spasms. The corresponding signs are frowning, drooping mouth corners, and grinning (facial spasm); laryngeal obstruction, difficulty swallowing, and choking (pharyngeal muscle spasm); difficulty breathing, cyanosis, and respiratory arrest (spasm of respiratory muscles and diaphragm); and urinary retention (spasm of bladder sphincter). Severe muscle spasms can cause muscle rupture or even fractures. The causes of death of patients are mostly asphyxiation, heart failure or lung complications. The above-mentioned seizures can be induced by slight stimulation, such as light, sound, touch, drinking water, etc., or they can occur spontaneously. In mild cases, muscle spasms occur no more than three times a day; in severe cases, attacks are frequent, occurring every few minutes or even continuously. Each attack lasts from a few seconds to a few minutes. The course of the disease is generally 3 to 4 weeks. If treated actively and without special complications, the severity of the attack can gradually decrease, and the average remission period is about 1 week. However, muscle tension and hyperreflexia may continue for a period of time; some mental symptoms may also appear during the recovery period, such as hallucinations, speech and movement disorders, but most of them can recover on their own.

3. Autonomic nervous system symptoms

It is caused by the toxins affecting the sympathetic nerves, and manifests itself as significant fluctuations in blood pressure, increased heart rate with arrhythmia, peripheral vasoconstriction, and profuse sweating.

4. Special Types

(1) Localized tetanus is manifested by stiffness and spasm of the masseter muscles at the site of injury or in the face. (2) Tetanus of the head and face is caused by head trauma. Patients with facial, oculomotor and hypoglossal nerve paralysis are of the paralysis type, while patients with the non-paralysis type have clenched jaws and spasms of the facial and pharyngeal muscles.