Muscle tone is not a well‐defined term

Shortland, Adam P

doi:10.1111/dmcn.13707

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Given the above, it is clear that muscle tone is a very complex term and, despite being commonly used in professional literature, it lacks a precise definition [ 14 ] and is still a subject of discussion and research, see, e.g., [ 3 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 11 ]. Defining muscle tone as resistance to passive movement is very vague, allowing for ambiguous interpretations [ 18 , 19 ]. Furthermore, the resistance is influenced by other factors besides the muscle and its fascia, such as the joint range of motion, ligament laxity, etc.…”

Section: Muscle Tonementioning

confidence: 99%

Objective Methods of Muscle Tone Diagnosis and Their Application—A Critical Review

Kopecká

Jelen

Bittner

2023

Sensors

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“Muscle tone” is a clinically important and widely used term and palpation is a crucial skill for its diagnosis. However, the term is defined rather vaguely, and palpation is not measurable objectively. Therefore, several methods have been developed to measure muscle tone objectively, in terms of biomechanical properties of the muscle. This article aims to summarize these approaches. Through database searches, we identified those studies related to objective muscle tone measurement in vivo, in situ. Based on them, we described existing methods and devices and compared their reliability. Furthermore, we presented an extensive list of the use of these methods in different fields of research. Although it is believed by some authors that palpation cannot be replaced by a mechanical device, several methods have already proved their utility in muscle biomechanical property diagnosis. There appear to be two issues preventing wider usage of these objective methods in clinical practice. Firstly, a high variability of their reliability, and secondly, a lack of valid mathematical models that would provide the observed mechanical characteristics with a clear physical significance and allow the results to be compared with each other.

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Section: Muscle Tonementioning

confidence: 99%

Objective Methods of Muscle Tone Diagnosis and Their Application—A Critical Review

Kopecká

Jelen

Bittner

2023

Sensors

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“…The definition of muscle tone remains somewhat contentious (Martin et al 2005;Naidoo 2014;Shortland 2018) but there is no doubt that both neural (muscle activation) (Katz and Rymer 1989;Sanger et al 2003;Takakusaki et al 2003Takakusaki et al , 2004Bear et al 2007;Bodensteiner 2008;Sherwood 2010) and non-neural (muscle mechanical properties, e.g., stiffness) (Katz and Rymer 1989;Simons and Mense 1998;Sanger et al 2003;Kumar et al 2004;Prado et al 2005;Smith et al 2011;Thacker et al 2012;Wood et al 2014;Lacraz et al 2015) factors contribute to muscle tone. Further, the relationship between muscle activation and muscle mechanical properties is not straightforward.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic Review of Instrumented Measures of Skeletal Muscle Mechanical Properties: Evidence for the Application of Shear Wave Elastography with Children

Goo

Johnston

Hug

et al. 2020

Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology

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The aim of this review was to identify instrumented devices that quantify skeletal muscle mechanical properties and to evaluate their potential clinical utility and clinimetric evidence with respect to children. Four databases were searched to identify articles reporting original clinimetric data for devices measuring muscle stiffness or elastic modulus, along a muscle's main fibre direction. Clinimetric evidence was rated using the Consensus-Based Standard for the Selection of Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) checklist. Sixty-five articles provided clinimetric data for two devices meeting our criteria: the Aixplorer and the Acuson. Both are shear wave elastography devices that determine the shear modulus of muscle tissue. The Aixplorer had strong construct validity and reliability, and the Acuson, moderate construct validity and reliability. Both devices have sound clinical utility with non-invasive application at various joint positions and data acquisition in real time, minimizing fatigue. Further research is warranted to evaluate utility for children with specific disorders of abnormal muscle structure or function.

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“…It is common for healthcare workers to encounter children with elevated tone in either the outpatient or inpatient setting. Superficially, ‘Tone’ is quite an easy concept to grasp—it is how much resistance you feel when you try to move a body part when you’ve asked a child to relax—but it is deceptively difficult to precisely define 1. The most common definition reported is that tone is ‘resistance to passive stretch while a patient is attempting to maintain a relaxed state of muscle activity’ 2.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fifteen-minute consultation: A clinical approach to the management of the child with hypertonia

Lumsden

Cadwgan

2020

Arch Dis Child Educ Pract Ed

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Elevated tone (hypertonia) is a common problem seen in the paediatric clinic. For most children and young people, hypertonia is just one aspect of a broader disorder of movement and posture. This paper describes a clinical approach to the management of hypertonia in children, considering the contribution of high tone to the functional problems experienced by the child, the potential adverse effects of reducing tone, side effects of the intervention and the importance of setting objectives/goals for intervention which can be measured at follow-up. We describe this as the ‘MOTOR’ approach and provide some examples of how it can be used in practice.

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Muscle tone is not a well‐defined term

Abstract: This commentary is on the systematic review by Goo et al. on pages 660–671 of this issue.

Cited by 7 publications

References 2 publications

Objective Methods of Muscle Tone Diagnosis and Their Application—A Critical Review

Objective Methods of Muscle Tone Diagnosis and Their Application—A Critical Review

Systematic Review of Instrumented Measures of Skeletal Muscle Mechanical Properties: Evidence for the Application of Shear Wave Elastography with Children

Fifteen-minute consultation: A clinical approach to the management of the child with hypertonia

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