Health Dictionary

Overview

Decerebrate and decorticate posturing can indicate that brain herniation is occurring^[1] or is about to occur. Brain herniation is an extremely dangerous condition in which parts of the brain are pushed past hard structures within the skull. In herniation syndrome, which is indicative of brain herniation, decorticate posturing occurs, and, if the condition is left untreated, develops into decerebrate posturing.^[1]

Causes

Common Causes

Brain abscesses

Brain herniation

Cerebral hemorrhage

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis

Epidural hematoma

Hypoxia

Malaria

Reye’s syndrome

Traumatic brain injury

Causes by Organ System

Cardiovascular	No underlying causes
Chemical / poisoning	Opisthotonus
Dermatologic	Satoyoshi syndrome
Drug Side Effect	Opisthotonus, Reye’s syndrome
Ear Nose Throat	No underlying causes
Endocrine	Satoyoshi syndrome
Environmental	No underlying causes
Gastroenterologic	Reye’s syndrome, Satoyoshi syndrome
Genetic	No underlying causes
Hematologic	Cerebral hemorrhage, Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, Malaria
Iatrogenic	No underlying causes
Infectious Disease	Malaria, Opisthotonus
Musculoskeletal / Ortho	Diastasis symphysis pubis, Satoyoshi syndrome
Neurologic	Brain abscesses, Brain herniation, Cerebral hemorrhage, Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Decerebrate posture, Decerebrate rigidity, Decerebration, Dystonia, Epidural hematoma, Focal dystonia, Opisthotonus, Pseudoathetosis, Reye’s syndrome, Traumatic brain injury
Nutritional / Metabolic	No underlying causes
Obstetric/Gynecologic	Satoyoshi syndrome
Oncologic	No underlying causes
Opthalmologic	No underlying causes
Overdose / Toxicity	Opisthotonus, Reye’s syndrome
Psychiatric	No underlying causes
Pulmonary	Apneustic respirations, Hypoxia
Renal / Electrolyte	No underlying causes
Rheum / Immune / Allergy	Satoyoshi syndrome
Sexual	No underlying causes
Trauma	Traumatic brain injury
Urologic	No underlying causes
Miscellaneous	No underlying causes

Causes in Alphabetical Order

Apneustic respirations

Brain abscesses

Brain herniation

Cerebral hemorrhage

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Decerebrate posture

Decerebrate rigidity

Decerebration

Diastasis symphysis pubis

Dystonia

Epidural hematoma

Focal dystonia

Hypoxia

Malaria

Opisthotonus

Pseudoathetosis

Reye’s syndrome

Satoyoshi syndrome

Traumatic brain injury

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Ayling, J (2002). “Managing head injuries”. Emergency Medical Services. 31 (8): 42. PMID 12224233. |access-date= requires |url= (help)

[Ayling-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Ayling, J (2002). “Managing head injuries”. Emergency Medical Services. 31 (8): 42. PMID 12224233. |access-date= requires |url= (help)

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