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. 2014 Jul;7(3):149-54.
doi: 10.4103/0974-2700.136847.

Acute Flaccid paralysis in adults: Our experience

Rupesh Kaushik  1 , Parampreet S Kharbanda  2 , Ashish Bhalla  1 , Roopa Rajan  2 , Sudesh Prabhakar  2
Affiliations

Acute Flaccid paralysis in adults: Our experience

Rupesh Kaushik et al. J Emerg Trauma Shock. 2014 Jul.

Abstract

Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) is a complex clinical syndrome with a broad array of potential etiologies that vary with age. We present our experience of acute onset lower motor neuron paralysis.

Materials and methods: One hundred and thirty-three consecutive adult patients presenting with weakness of duration less than four weeks over 12 months period were enrolled. Detailed history, clinical examination, and relevant investigations according to a pre-defined diagnostic algorithm were carried out. The patients were followed through their hospital stay till discharge or death.

Results: The mean age was 33.27 (range 13-89) years with male preponderance (67.7%). The most common etiology was neuroparalytic snake envenomation (51.9%), followed by Guillain Barre syndrome (33.1%), constituting 85% of all patients. Hypokalemic paralysis (7.5%) and acute intermittent porphyria (4.5%) were the other important conditions. We did not encounter any case of acute polio mylitis in adults. In-hospital mortality due to respiratory paralysis was 9%.

Conclusion: Neuroparalytic snakebite and Guillain Barre syndrome were the most common causes of acute flaccid paralysis in adults in our study.

Keywords: Guillain Barre syndrome; lower motor neuron; neuroparalytic snakebite; paralysis; weakness.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Algorithm for diagnosis of acute flaccid paralysis
Figure 2
Figure 2
Seasonal distribution of acute flaccid paralysis
Figure 3
Figure 3
Pattern of weakness in different etiologies leading to acute flaccid paralysis
Figure 4
Figure 4
Outcomes according to etiologies in patients with acute flaccid paralysis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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