ICD-11 classes
05 Endocrine, nutritional or metabolic diseases
Nutritional disorders
Undernutrition
5B5K — Mineral deficiencies
5B5K.1 — Calcium deficiency
5B5K.10 — Tetany due to acute calcium deficiency

ICD-11 5B5K.10 — Tetany due to acute calcium deficiency

The hallmark of acute hypocalcaemia is tetany, which is characterised by neuromuscular irritability. The symptoms of tetany may be mild (peri-oral numbness, paresthesias of the hands and feet, muscle cramps) or severe (carpopedal spasm, laryngospasm, and focal or generalised seizures, which must be distinguished from the generalised tonic muscle contractions that occur in severe tetany). Other patients have less specific symptoms such as fatigue, hyperirritability, anxiety, and depression, and some patients, even with severe hypocalcaemia, have no neuromuscular symptoms. Factors that determine the variation in frequency and severity of symptoms include acid-base status (hypocalcaemia and alkalosis act synergistically to cause tetany), hypomagnesaemia, and potassium balance.

The diagnosis includes nothing.

The diagnosis excludes nothing.

It has no clarifying diagnoses.