The clinical sign known as 'lockjaw' is indicative of_______________?
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Answer: B. Spasm of masseter mucle
Explanation
Trismus, commonly known as lockjaw, is primarily caused by involuntary spasm of the masseter and other muscles. Hypertonicity of the masticatory muscles severely restricts normal mandibular opening and jaw movement. Various local inflammatory or traumatic stimuli can trigger this painful reflex muscle contraction. The muscles of mastication include the masseter, temporalis, medial pterygoid, and lateral pterygoid. Infection, local inferior alveolar nerve block injections, trauma, and tetanus toxins are frequent causes of trismus. Persistent muscle spasm leads to localized ischemia, metabolic waste accumulation, and significant patient discomfort.
Patients with severe trismus experience extreme difficulty eating, maintaining oral hygiene, and undergoing dental treatment. Therapeutic management involves identifying the primary cause, prescribing muscle relaxants, and applying warm compresses. Tetanus infection must be considered in differential diagnoses if unimmunized patients present with progressive lockjaw. Ankylosis involves physical fibrous or bony fusion of the temporomandibular joint rather than temporary muscle spasm. Auspitz’s sign is the appearance of tiny blood bleeding points when psoriatic scales are scraped off. Nikolsky’s sign involves the shedding of the upper skin layer upon gentle lateral pressure in blistering diseases.
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