Monoplegia
| Monoplegia | |
|---|---|
| Damage to the motor cortex can induce monoplegia. | |
| Specialty | Neurology |
| Causes | Stroke, cerebral palsy, direct physical trauma to the affected limb, central nervous mass lesion, tumor, hematoma, or abscess, migraine, epilepsy, head or spinal trauma, brachial neuritis, neonatal brachial plexus paralysis, Brown Sequard, peripheral neuropathy, plexopathy, traumatic peroneal neuropathy, paralytic poliomyelitis, spinal muscular atrophy, seizures |
| Differential diagnosis | Hemiplegia, paraplegia, quadriplegia |
Monoplegia is paralysis of a single limb, usually an arm. Common symptoms associated with monoplegic patients are weakness, numbness, and pain in the affected limb. Monoplegia is a type of paralysis that falls under hemiplegia. While hemiplegia is paralysis of half of the body, monoplegia is localized to a single limb or to a specific region of the body. Monoplegia of the upper limb is sometimes referred to as brachial monoplegia, and that of the lower limb is called crural monoplegia. Monoplegia in the lower extremities is not as common of an occurrence as in the upper extremities. Monoparesis is a similar, but less severe, condition because one limb is very weak, not paralyzed. For more information, see paresis.
Many conditions that cause paraplegia or quadriplegia may initially present as monoplegia. Therefore, the possibility of spinal paraplegia should be considered during diagnosis. In addition, several cerebral disorders that can lead to hemiplegia may begin as monoplegia. Monoplegia is frequently associated with cerebral palsy and is often regarded as its mildest form.