Trousseau sign of latent tetany
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In a patient with hypocalcaemia, carpal spasm may be elicited by occluding the brachial artery. To perform the maneuver, a blood pressure cuff is placed around the arm and inflated to a pressure greater than the systolic blood pressure and held in place for 3 minutes. If carpal spasm occurs, manifested as flexion at the wrist and metacarpophalangeal joints, extension of the distal interphalangeal and proximal interphalangeal joints, and adduction of the thumb and fingers, the sign is said to be positive and the patient likely has hypocalcemia. This sign may become positive before other gross manifestations of hypocalcemia such as hyperreflexia and tetany, but is generally believed to be less sensitive than the Chvostek sign for hypocalcemia.
