Movement - uncoordinated

Disease	Injury	Nutrition	Poison

Special Topic	Surgery	Symptoms	Test

Muscular atrophy

Overview

Treatment

Movement - uncoordinated

Definition:

Uncoordinated movement is an abnormality of muscle control or an inability to finely coordinate movements, resulting in a jerky "to-and-fro" unsteady motion of the trunk or the limbs.

Alternative Names:

Lack of coordination; Loss of coordination; Incoordination and irregularity of voluntary movements; Coordination impairment; Ataxia; Clumsiness

Considerations:

Smooth graceful movement results from a fine balance between opposing muscle groups. This balance is coordinated by a portion of the brain called the cerebellum.

Diseases that damage the cerebellum, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves (which connect from the cerebellum to the muscle groups) can interfere with the fine tuning of muscular movement and result in coarse, jerky, uncoordinated movement. This condition is called ataxia and is easily seen in the jerky "to-and-fro" motion of the trunk and unsteady gait of an affected person.

Ataxia may appear as a congenital defect, or following a simple viral infection such as chicken pox. It may also appear following encephalitis, head trauma, and diseases affecting the central nervous system or spinal cord. Appearance as a genetic disorder, or as a toxic reaction to drugs, medications, alcohol or environmental toxins is also possible.

Common Causes:

Transient ischemic attack (TIA)
Stroke
Multiple sclerosis
Vertebral abnormalities (such as compression fractures of the back)
Poisoning
Alcohol or other drug intoxication
Drugs such as aminoglutethimide, anticholinergics, phenytoin (in high doses), carbamazepine, phenobarbital and tricyclic antidepressants
Alcoholism
Post-infectious condition (typically following chickenpox)
Hereditary condition (congenital cerebellar ataxia, Friedreich's ataxia, ataxia telangiectasia)

Review Date: 5/8/2003
Reviewed By: Elaine T. Kiriakopoulos, M.D., M.Sc., Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard University, Boston, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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