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Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.

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Tetanus differential diagnosis

Introduction

Overview

Overview

Tetanus must be differentiated from other diseases that present with fever and rigidity such as strychnine poisoning, dental infections, drug reactions, hypocalcemia, meningitis, stroke, and stiff man syndrome.[1]

Differentiating Tetanus from other Diseases

Differentiating Tetanus from other Diseases

Tetanus must be differentiated from other diseases that present with fever and rigidity such as::[2][3][4]

Differential Diagnosis on the basis of Rigidity and Fever
Disease Diagnosis Treatment
Symptoms Signs Laboratory Findings
Tetanus[5][6]
  • Not significant
Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome [7][8]
Viral Meningitis[9][10][11]
Stiff man syndrome
  • Marked rigidity
  • Spasms
    • Intermittent
    • Painful
    • Absent during sleep
Drug induced (Tardive dyskinesia)[12][13][14]
  • History of intake of the offending drug for at least one month
  • Eye deviation
  • Head and neck jerky movements
  • No tonic contraction of the muscles between the spasms
Strychnine poisoning[15][16][17][18]
  • Hx of up to date tetanus immunizations
  • History of intentional or accidental intake
    • Strychnos nux vomica seeds
    • Rodenticide
  • Hypervigilance
  • Anxiety
  • Mydriasis
  • Hypereflexia
  • Clonus
  • Facial and neck stiffness
  • Blood assay
  • Tissue assay
  • Urine assay
  • Initial stabilization
  • High dose Benzodiazepines
  • Intubation and airway securing
Hypocalcaemia[19][20]
Dental abscess[21][22]
  • Tooth pain
  • Painful eating and chewing
  • Fever
  • Poor oral hygiene
  • Presence of a dental infection
  • Swollen gums
  • No progression of spasm with time
  • Cheek swelling
  • Clinical diagnosis
  • Labs may include
    • Microscopic exam of stained smear
    • Culture of oral swab
    • Blood culture
  • Improved dental hygiene
    • Use of fluoridated water
    • Brushing regularly
  • Antibiotics
  • Dental extraction in case of severity
Parkinson’s disease[23][24]
  • Clinical diagnosis
  • Improvement with dopaminergic therapy confirms diagnosis

Differential for Unilateral Involuntary Face Movements

Tetanus must also be differentiated from the following diseases that cause abnormal one sided movements of the face:[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]

References

References

  1. ↑ Anisha Doshi, Clare Warrell, Dima Dahdaleh & Dimitri Kullmann (2014). “Just a graze? Cephalic tetanus presenting as a stroke mimic”. Practical neurology. 14 (1): 39–41. doi:10.1136/practneurol-2013-000541. PMID 24052566. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  2. ↑ E. Andreadou, E. Kattoulas, C. Sfagos & D. Vassilopoulos (2007). “Stiff person syndrome: avoiding misdiagnosis”. Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology. 28 (1): 35–37. doi:10.1007/s10072-007-0745-9. PMID 17385093. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  3. ↑ Lisa Mitchell, William Adams & Francois Aspesberro (2017). “Case 6: Episodic Stiffness in a 30-month-old Girl”. Pediatrics in review. 38 (1): 52–53. doi:10.1542/pir.2014-0142. PMID 28044038. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  4. ↑ P. D. Thompson, J. A. Obeso, G. Delgado, J. Gallego & C. D. Marsden (1986). “Focal dystonia of the jaw and the differential diagnosis of unilateral jaw and masticatory spasm”. Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry. 49 (6): 651–656. PMID 3734821. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ↑ Woldeamanuel YW, Andemeskel AT, Kyei K, Woldeamanuel MW, Woldeamanuel W (2016). “Case fatality of adult tetanus in Africa: Systematic review and meta-analysis”. J Neurol Sci. 368: 292–9. doi:10.1016/j.jns.2016.07.025. PMID 27538652.
  6. ↑ Thwaites CL, Loan HT (2015). “Eradication of tetanus”. Br Med Bull. 116: 69–77. doi:10.1093/bmb/ldv044. PMC 4674006. PMID 26598719.
  7. ↑ Hosseini S, Elyasi F (2017). “Olanzapine-Induced Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome”. Iran J Med Sci. 42 (3): 306–309. PMC 5429500. PMID 28533580.
  8. ↑ Leenhardt F, Perier D, Pinzani V, Giraud I, Villiet M, Castet-Nicolas A; et al. (2017). “Pharmacist intervention to detect drug adverse events on admission to the emergency department: Two case reports of neuroleptic malignant syndrome”. J Clin Pharm Ther. doi:10.1111/jcpt.12531. PMID 28488314.
  9. ↑ Chow E, Troy SB (2014). “The differential diagnosis of hypoglycorrhachia in adult patients”. Am J Med Sci. 348 (3): 186–90. doi:10.1097/MAJ.0000000000000217. PMC 4065645. PMID 24326618.
  10. ↑ Leen WG, Willemsen MA, Wevers RA, Verbeek MM (2012). “Cerebrospinal fluid glucose and lactate: age-specific reference values and implications for clinical practice”. PLoS One. 7 (8): e42745. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0042745. PMC 3412827. PMID 22880096.
  11. ↑ Tyler KL (2004). “Herpes simplex virus infections of the central nervous system: encephalitis and meningitis, including Mollaret’s”. Herpes. 11 Suppl 2: 57A–64A. PMID 15319091.
  12. ↑ Deng ZD, Li DY, Zhang CC, Pan YX, Zhang J, Jin H; et al. (2017). “Long-term follow-up of bilateral subthalamic deep brain stimulation for refractory tardive dystonia”. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. doi:10.1016/j.parkreldis.2017.05.010. PMID 28552340.
  13. ↑ “Valbenazine (Ingrezza) for tardive dyskinesia”. Med Lett Drugs Ther. 59 (1521): 83–84. 2017. PMID 28520698.
  14. ↑ Voelker R (2017). “Tardive Dyskinesia Drug Approved”. JAMA. 317 (19): 1942. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.5537. PMID 28510661.
  15. ↑ Charlotte Duverneuil, Geoffroy Lorin de la Grandmaison, Philippe de Mazancourt & Jean-Claude Alvarez (2004). “Liquid chromatography/photodiode array detection for determination of strychnine in blood: a fatal case report”. Forensic science international. 141 (1): 17–21. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2003.12.010. PMID 15066709. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  16. ↑ B. A. Smith (1990). “Strychnine poisoning”. The Journal of emergency medicine. 8 (3): 321–325. PMID 2197324. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  17. ↑ B. J. Maron, J. R. Krupp & B. Tune (1971). “Strychnine poisoning successfully treated with diazepam”. The Journal of pediatrics. 78 (4): 697–699. PMID 5547830. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  18. ↑ B. Oberpaur, A. Donoso, C. Claveria, C. Valverde & M. Azocar (1999). “Strychnine poisoning: an uncommon intoxication in children”. Pediatric emergency care. 15 (4): 264–265. PMID 10460082. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  19. ↑ Chhabra P, Rana SS, Sharma V, Sharma R, Bhasin DK (2016). “Hypocalcemic tetany: a simple bedside marker of poor outcome in acute pancreatitis”. Ann Gastroenterol. 29 (2): 214–20. doi:10.20524/aog.2016.0015. PMC 4805743. PMID 27065735.
  20. ↑ Desai M, Kolla PK, Reddy PL (2013). “Calcium unresponsive hypocalcemic tetany: gitelman syndrome with hypocalcemia”. Case Rep Med. 2013: 197374. doi:10.1155/2013/197374. PMC 3792521. PMID 24171002.
  21. ↑ Ogle OE (2017). “Odontogenic Infections”. Dent Clin North Am. 61 (2): 235–252. doi:10.1016/j.cden.2016.11.004. PMID 28317564.
  22. ↑ Bertossi D, Barone A, Iurlaro A, Marconcini S, De Santis D, Finotti M; et al. (2017). “Odontogenic Orofacial Infections”. J Craniofac Surg. 28 (1): 197–202. doi:10.1097/SCS.0000000000003250. PMID 27930461.
  23. ↑ Olanow CW, Watts RL, Koller WC (2001). “An algorithm (decision tree) for the management of Parkinson’s disease (2001): treatment guidelines”. Neurology. 56 (11 Suppl 5): S1–S88. PMID 11402154.
  24. ↑ Connolly BS, Lang AE (2014). “Pharmacological treatment of Parkinson disease: a review”. JAMA. 311 (16): 1670–83. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.3654. PMID 24756517.
  25. ↑ P. D. Thompson, J. A. Obeso, G. Delgado, J. Gallego & C. D. Marsden (1986). “Focal dystonia of the jaw and the differential diagnosis of unilateral jaw and masticatory spasm”. Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry. 49 (6): 651–656. PMID 3734821. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  26. ↑ J. R. Berger, W. A. Sheremata & E. Melamed (1984). “Paroxysmal dystonia as the initial manifestation of multiple sclerosis”. Archives of neurology. 41 (7): 747–750. PMID 6743065. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  27. ↑ W. B. Matthews (1975). “Paroxysmal symptoms in multiple sclerosis”. Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry. 38 (6): 617–623. PMID 1151430. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  28. ↑ P. D. Thompson & W. M. Carroll (1983). “Hemimasticatory spasm–a peripheral paroxysmal cranial neuropathy?”. Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry. 46 (3): 274–276. PMID 6842234. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  29. ↑ P. D. Thompson & W. M. Carroll (1983). “Hemimasticatory and hemifacial spasm: a common pathophysiology?”. Clinical and experimental neurology. 19: 110–119. PMID 6568919.
  30. ↑ L. R. Jenkyn, D. B. Walsh, C. M. Culver & A. G. Reeves (1977). “Clinical signs in diffuse cerebral dysfunction”. Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry. 40 (10): 956–966. PMID 591973. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  31. ↑ J. D. Rugh & W. K. Solberg (1976). “Psychological implications in temporomandibular pain and dysfunction”. Oral sciences reviews. 7: 3–30. PMID 775369.
  32. ↑ Bond WS (1984). “Detection and management of the neuroleptic malignant syndrome”. Clin Pharm. 3 (3): 302–7. PMID 6145537.
  33. ↑ S. Fahn, S. B. Bressman & C. D. Marsden (1998). “Classification of dystonia”. Advances in neurology. 78: 1–10. PMID 9750897.
  34. ↑ Howard L. Geyer & Susan B. Bressman (2006). “The diagnosis of dystonia”. The Lancet. Neurology. 5 (9): 780–790. doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(06)70547-6. PMID 16914406. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  35. ↑ Christine Klein & Laurie J. Ozelius (2002). “Dystonia: clinical features, genetics, and treatment”. Current opinion in neurology. 15 (4): 491–497. PMID 12151848. Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Michael Maddaleni, B.S.; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Usama Talib, BSc, MD [2]