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A spasm is a sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle, [1] a group of muscles, or a hollow organ, such as the bladder. A spasmodic muscle contraction may be caused by many medical conditions, including dystonia. Most commonly, it is a muscle cramp which is accompanied by a sudden burst of pain. A muscle cramp is usually harmless and ceases ...
While this relaxation may be voluntary, the overall process of rumination is still generally involuntary. Relaxation due to intra-abdominal pressure is another proposed explanation, which would make abdominal compression the primary mechanism. The third is an adaptation of the belch reflex, which is the most commonly described mechanism.
Tonic contractions are those contractions that are maintained from several minutes up to hours at a time. These occur in the sphincters of the tract, as well as in the anterior stomach. The other type of contractions, called phasic contractions, consist of brief periods of both relaxation and contraction, occurring in the posterior stomach and ...
Abdominal reflex is noted as either present or absent. An absent response can be physiological. Physiological absent response can be due to obesity, frailty, or muscle laxity after multiple pregnancies or abdominal surgery. [1] It is not unusual for this reflex to be absent in children. [2]
A fasciculation, or muscle twitch, is a spontaneous, involuntary muscle contraction and relaxation, involving fine muscle fibers. [1] They are common, with as many as 70% of people experiencing them. [1] They can be benign, or associated with more serious conditions. [1]
A cramp is a sudden, involuntary, painful skeletal muscle contraction [1] [2] or overshortening associated with electrical activity; [3] while generally temporary and non-damaging, they can cause significant pain and a paralysis-like immobility of the affected muscle.
A myoclonic seizure (myo "muscle", clonic "jerk") is a sudden involuntary contraction of muscle groups. The muscle jerks consist of symmetric, mostly generalized jerks, localized in the arms and in the shoulders and also simultaneously with a head nod; both the arms may fling out together and simultaneously a head nod may occur.
These contractions are suspect in esophageal dysmotility and present on a barium swallow as a "corkscrew esophagus". [9] During vomiting, the propulsion of food up the esophagus and out the mouth comes from the contraction of the abdominal muscles; peristalsis does not reverse in the esophagus. [citation needed]