Crossword clues for contracture
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Contracture \Con*trac"ture\ (?; 135), n. [L. contractura a drawing together.] (Med.) A state of permanent rigidity or contraction of the muscles, generally of the flexor muscles.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1650s, from French contracture, from Latin contractura "a drawing together," from contractus, past participle of contrahere (see contract (n.)).
Wiktionary
n. (context medicine English) An abnormal, sometimes permanent, contraction of a muscle; a deformity so caused
WordNet
n. an abnormal and usually permanent contraction of a muscle
Wikipedia
A muscle contracture is a permanent shortening of a muscle or joint. It is usually in response to prolonged hypertonic spasticity in a concentrated muscle area, such as is seen in the tightest muscles of people with conditions like spastic cerebral palsy.
Contractures are essentially muscles or tendons that have remained too tight for too long, thus becoming shorter. Once they occur, it is often argued that they cannot be stretched or exercised away (they must be released with orthopedic surgery). Most of the physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other exercise regimens targeted towards people with spasticity focuses on trying to prevent contractures from happening in the first place. However, research on sustained traction of connective tissue in approaches such as adaptive yoga has demonstrated that contracture can be reduced, at the same time that tendency toward spasticity is addressed.
Contractures can also be due to ischemia, as in Volkmann's contracture.
Excessive matrix metalloproteinase and myofibroblast accumulation in the wound margins can result in contracture.
Usage examples of "contracture".
He was suffering contractures of his hands and a muscle weakness so pronounced that he could hardly move his head.
He was a complete surprise and terribly premature, and withered, and he spent the next many weeks waggling his withered and contractured arms up at the Pyrex ceilings of incubators, being fed by tubes and monitored by wires and cupped in sterile palms, his head cradled by a thumb.
It took the bradykinetic Mario all night and two bottles of Ajax Plus to clean the room with his tiny contractured arms and square feet.
He froze, worried about the excruciating contractures that occasionally racked the muscles that were still connected to extant nerves.
The paralytic ileus, the stress ulcers, hypotension and bradycardia, bedsores turning into decubitus ulcers, contractures as the muscle tissue began to shrink and threatened to steal away the precious mobility of his finger, the infuriating phantom pain—burns and aches in extremities that could feel no sensation.
The paralytic ileus, the stress ulcers, hypotension and bradycardia, bedsores turning into decubitus ulcers, contractures as the muscle tissue began to shrink and threatened to steal away the precious mobility of his finger, the infuriating phantom pain-burns and aches in extremities that could feel no sensation.
The paralytic ileus, the stress ulcers, hypotension and bradycardia, bedsores turning into decubitus ulcers, contractures as the muscle tissue began to shrink and threatened to steal away the precious mobility of his finger, the infuriating phantom pain—.